Acoustics Animations
Waves at a Change in Pipe Area
What happens when a wave is traveling down a pipe that suddenly changes size? How do the displacement, velocity, and pressure relate to each other?
Image Sources
How do you trace all of the paths a sound can bounce around a room? What if you don't have to? Can you predict how 'echo-y' a room is going to be?
Spectrogram
What if you made a plot of frequency content across time?
Equal Loudness Contours
Do low frequencies and high frequencies sound equally loud? Based on ISO Standard 226:2023-03.
Math Animations
What are Sin and Cos?
An explanation of the trigonometric functions via interactive circles and triangles.
What are Amplitude, Frequency, and Phase?
A visualization of amplitude, frequency, and phase.
About Me
I am Noah J. Parker, a Ph.D. student in the Graduate Program of Acoustics at Penn State University under the mentorship of Dr. Dan Russell — creator of the renowned Acoustics and Vibration Animations. I am developing pages that will similarly teach about acoustics with a focus on interactivity — allowing for curiosity and exploration. Whether you're an educator, a student, or just a curious soul, I hope to share some of my understanding of and passion for acoustics.
I was born and raised in Price, Utah where my fascination with sound and vibration started as I helped my grandparents build classical guitars. It always boggled my mind that a wiggling string can shake a wooden box that radiates sounds that we can understand as tones. Those tones can stack up to make chords which can change to make music and communicate powerful emotions, tell engaging stories, and evoke vivid memories. All this from some wiggling strings!
In my quest to understand this amazing sequence, I got a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Utah Valley University. After which, I got accepted at Penn State University where they have the best acoustics program around.