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beat

In physics, the pulsation resulting from a combination of two waves of slightly different frequency. Beat frequency is the difference between the frequencies of the combining waves. When the interfering frequencies are in the audible range, the beats are heard as alternating soft and loud pulses. The human ear can detect beats with frequencies up to 10 hertz, or 10 beats per second. Piano tuners listen for beats when comparing the pitch of a tuning fork to that of a vibrating string; when no beats are heard, the fork and string are at the same frequency. Ultrasonic or inaudible frequencies can be superimposed to produce audible beats, allowing the detection of vocal sounds produced by bats or dolphins.

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Beat

A variation in the intensity of a composite wave which is formed from two distinct waves with different frequencies. Beats were first observed in sound waves, such as those produced by two tuning forks with different frequencies. Beats also can be produced by other waves. They can occur in the motion of two pendulums of different lengths and have been observed among the different-frequency phonons in a crystal lattice.

One important application of beat phenomena is to use one object with an accurately known frequency to determine the unknown frequency of another such object. The beat-frequency or heterodyne oscillator also operates by producing beats from two frequencies.