A discretized bead-and-filament string reproduces sound-wave behavior

Evidence

In chapter 1, we motivated how sound waves are generated by the pushing and shoving of adjacent air cells. Now, we have seen that wave behavior arises in a very explicit model of a stretched string, its parts— namely, little beads connected by tensioned filament—playing the role of the air cells introduced in connection with sound propagation. In analogy with the air cells, they pull their neighbors up and down as they are themselves pulled. The results of this tug-of-war include the harmonic modes of a string tied down at both ends, together with right-and left-propagating pulses. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 848

Categorization

• XREF: Beads as air cells unifies string and air-column acoustics — a natural bridge between the air-propagation chapter and this one.