Sound pulses pass through each other unchanged via superposition

Evidence

For the open pipe, the sequence in the figure begins with a compression pulse being launched into the pipe and another compression pulse just leaving the open end (the presence of this second pulse will be explained shortly). The next snapshot (2) shows the instant when these two pulses reach the center of the pipe, their summed pressure being a maximum at this point. The pulses effectively travel through each other and emerge with their original identities due to “superposition” (see Chapter 1). — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1160

Categorization

• XREF: Relates to superposition principle of waves from Chapter 1, and generalizes to all traveling waves described in earlier coverage.