Serway & Jewett — Superposition and Standing Waves: Problem 22

Ever since seeing Figure 16.22 in the previous chapter, you have been fascinated with the hearing response in humans. You have set up an apparatus that allows you to determine your own threshold of hearing as a function of frequency. After performing the experiment and recording the results, you graph the results, which look like Figure P17.22. You are intrigued by the two dips in the curve at the right-hand side of the graph. You measure carefully and find that the minimum values of these dips occur at 3 800 Hz and 11 500 Hz. Performing some online research, you discover that the outer canal of the human ear can be modeled as an air column open at the outer end and closed at the inner end by the eardrum. You use this information to determine the length of the outer canal in your ear.