Brief Analysis of Sounds Using a Smartphone

In almost any given day, one will stumble upon sounds that are out of the ordinary, distinct enough to capture one's attention. Ordinary sounds in a home are represented by the white-noise-like background created by speaking, moving around, household appliances running, and so forth. The out of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Physics teacher Vol. 57; no. 4; pp. 214 - 215
Main Author Florea, Catalin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Association of Physics Teachers 01.04.2019
Subjects
Acoustics
Computer Oriented Programs
Educational Technology
Handheld Devices
Physics
Science Instruction
Scientific Concepts
Teaching Methods
Technology Uses in Education
Telecommunications
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Summary:In almost any given day, one will stumble upon sounds that are out of the ordinary, distinct enough to capture one's attention. Ordinary sounds in a home are represented by the white-noise-like background created by speaking, moving around, household appliances running, and so forth. The out of the ordinary is the sparkling sound of a knife blade or a fork, the clinking of glasses, or dropping of a coin in a bowl. With the help of a smartphone and an app that can provide basic sound analysis, we can identify "what" makes a given sound to be out of the ordinary and, in the process, learn more about the sounds we hear. It has already been shown, for example, how a smartphone can be used to check resonant frequencies of whistles, or to map a sound field in polar coordinates--to give just a couple of examples. It is our intention in the following to show the wealth of findings when a variety of sounds from around the house are recorded and analyzed using a smartphone and a readily available app.
ISSN:0031-921X
DOI:10.1119/1.5095371