Page:Young - Outlines of experiments and inquiries respecting sound and light (1800).djvu/33

 furnished by the phænomena of beats, and of the grave harmonics observed by and ; which M.  has already considered in the same point of view. In the first place, to simplify the statement, let us suppose, what probably never precisely happens, that the particles of air, in transmitting the pulses, proceed and return with uniform motions; and, in order to represent their position to the eye, let the uniform progress of time be represented by the increase of the absciss, and the distance of the particle from its original position, by the ordinate, Fig. 33–38. Then, by supposing any two or more vibrations in the same direction to be combined, the joint motion will be represented by the sum or difference of the ordinates. When two sounds are of equal strength, and nearly of the same pitch, as in Fig. 36, the joint vibration is alternately very weak and very strong, producing the effect denominated a beat, Plate VI. Fig. 43, B and C; which is slower and more marked, as the sounds approach nearer to each other in frequency of vibrations; and, of these beats there may happen to be several orders, according to the periodical approximations of the numbers expressing the proportions of the vibrations. The strength of the joint sound is double that of the simple sound only at the middle of the beat, but not throughout its duration; and it may be inferred, that the strength of sound in a concert will not be in exact proportion to the number of instruments composing it. Could any method be devised for ascertaining this by experiment, it would assist in the comparison of sound with light. In Plate V. Fig. 33, let P and Q be the middle points of the progress or regress of a particle in two successive compound vibrations; then, CP being = PD, KR = RN, GQ = QH, and MS = SO, twice their distance, 2&hairsp;RS = 2&hairsp;RN +