ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 describes the basic nature of sound and introduces several different sound waves, including pure tones, complex tones, and noise, which are examples of the idealized sound waves that hearing researchers might synthesize in the laboratory. Chapter 3 begins by examining sound production in the real world and includes a discussion of how objects vibrate to produce sound waves in air. The chapter will also consider how sound spreads out, or propagates, from the sound source and how it interacts with other objects in the environment. Finally, this brief introduction to physical acoustics concludes by considering some ways in which sounds, or electronic representations of sounds, can be manipulated to change their characteristics.
