Chladni, Ernst Florens Friedrich

Chladni, Ernst Florens Friedrich (ĕrnst flō`rĕns frē`drĭkh kläd`nē), 1756–1827, German physicist. An authority on acoustics, he made studies of the transmission of sound in various gases and of vibrating plates of glass and metal covered with sand, on which were formed the so-called Chladni figures, or acoustic figures. He invented a musical instrument that he called the euphonium. Chladni also studied meteorites and proposed that they are of extraterrestrial origin.