The Physics Puzzler

Human beings (and most animals) can detect the direction from which sound arrives. Close your eyes and have a friend quietly walk away from you in some undisclosed direction. When they speak, point at them. Open your eyes and see how well you did. How did your auditory system do this? For a few clues, consider the following information:

• When the source of sound is directly in front or in back of your head, you will reflexively turn your head slightly to listen again. Try this with your friend(s).

• It is more difficult to detect the direction of low frequencies than middle and high frequencies. This is why the location of the woofer in a satellite/sub woofer speaker system is unimportant to stereo sound imaging, while the location of the mid/high range satellite speakers are important. It may also be the reason that in many cultures, like our Island culture, people hiss when they want to get someone's attention. A high frequency hiss is easier to locate than a low frequency bellow.

• Underwater, humans consistently, and incorrectly, perceive sounds to come more from the front (or back) than they actually do.

  Of course, you can find the answer to this in the library. But try to figure it out on your own from the clues. If you are stymied, it's ok to consult a text.

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