Riccardo's Science Blog

Summary : There are two types of signals, analog and digital. An analog signal changes in frequency and amplitude all the time in a way that matches the changes in the voice or music being transmitted. A digital signal has just two values, which we represent as 0 and 1. An analog signal varies in frequency and amplitude. A digital signal has two values, 0 and 1 (or ‘on’ and ‘off’). The signal is converted into a code using only the values 0 and 1. The signal becomes a stream of 0 and 1 values. These pulses are added to the electromagnetic wave and transmitted. The signal is received and then decoded to recover the original signal. Both analogue and digital signals can pick up unwanted signals that distort the original signal. Digital signals can be cleaned up in a process known as regeneration because each pulse must be a 0 or a 1, so other values can be removed. Analogue signals can be amplified, but the noise is amplified too. This is why digital signals give a...

The format of music I would like to use to produce my music is digital. Digital music is much easier to distribute, to make many copies of and is more likely to be purchased. The reason I want to produce my music in a digital format is because digital is much easier to edit, as you can cut, edit and manipulate the audio in any way you want. However, my producer wants to record my music in an analog format. I can see his point, as it may sound better being an analog, but there are too many problems with analog that don't exist with digital. Digital music is much more convenient, and that is why I want to produce my music that way. Recording music digitally has many pros, including what is said in the article Analog and Digital by Chris Woodford, "It's easier to store information in digital form and it generally takes up less room. You'll need several shelves to store 400 vinyl, analog LP records, but with an MP3 player you can put the same amount of music in your pocket...

Summary : A wave is a disturbance of a medium which transports energy through the medium without permanently transporting matter. There are two types of waves, there are mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves. An example of a mechanical wave is sound, and mechanical waves require matter, or a medium, in order to pass. Electromagnetic waves do not require a medium and an example of one is light. There is a spectrum of electromagnetic waves and we can only see a very small portion of it. The things we can see in the electromagnetic spectrum are the following: radio waves, microwaves, infrared, invisible light, ultraviolet light (UV), x-rays, and gamma rays. Sound waves are both mechanical waves and longitudinal waves. The mediums sound require to travel through are solids, gases, and liquids. Sound waves travel the fastest through solids, because the molecules are close together. Sound waves travel slower but farther in a liquid, because the molecules are still close (just n...

1.) What is the measure of how many waves pass a point in a certain amount of time? The correct answer to this question is frequency. The difference between frequency and wavelength is that frequency measures how many waves pass a point in a certain amount of time, while wavelength is the distance between successive crests of a wave. 3.) A _____________________ is the distance between a point on one wave and the identical point of the next wave. The correct answer to this question is wavelength. The difference between wavelength and amplitude is that one measures distance, while one is the maximum extent. Wavelength is the distance between successive crests of a wave, while amplitude is the maximum extent of a vibration. 6.) Which of the following is the state of matter that will carry sound faster? The correct answer to this question is solids. This is because their molecules are the closest together, so they can transfer the sound waves without losing energy. 1...

Summary: There are multiple types of sound waves, but the most popular are transverse waves and longitudinal waves. In regard to transverse waves, the displacement of the medium is perpendicular to the direction of propagation (the transmission of motion, light, sound, etc.) of the wave. A ripple on a pond and a wave on a string are easily visualized transverse waves. With longitudinal waves, the displacement of the medium is parallel to the propagation of the wave. A wave in a "slinky" is a good visualization. Another example is sound waves through air. A sound wave, like any other wave, is introduced into a medium by a vibrating object. The vibrating object is the source of the disturbance that moves through the medium. Regardless of what vibrating object is creating the sound wave, the particles of the medium through which the sound moves is vibrating in a back and forth motion at a given frequency. The frequency of a wave refers to how often the particles of ...