Re: Re: Re: ATT: Rick Denney


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Posted by Leland on October 21, 2003 at 09:28:20:

In Reply to: Re: Re: ATT: Rick Denney posted by fred boyd on October 16, 2003 at 14:11:39:

NOT a PhD-type myself --

The temperature changes can be seen more like an indicator of air density changes.

Sound travels slower in cold (more dense) air, and the opposite in warm (less dense) air. This is why, when supersonic flights were just beginning, and aircraft would only really be able to go beyond Mach 1 at altitudes well over 30-40,000 feet. It takes a LOT of power to go supersonic at sea level.

Introduce himidity, and things get messed up all over again.

A definitive answer (if there is such a thing here) would come from using a tuner to quantify and graph an instrument's pitch changes over a range of temperature & humidity conditions. Taken outdoors, the process could even include being in sunlight and in shadow. If I learn Excel and get some weather-monitoring gear of my own (my building's rooftop can easily have different temp/humidity readings than NOAA or weather.com), I just might compile something like this.


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