Question

Two identical speakers, labeled Speaker 1 and Speaker 2, are playing a tone with a frequency of 175 Hz in phase. The centers of the speakers are located 6.00 m apart. Five observers are standing on a line that is 6.00 m in front of the speakers, as shown in the figure. Each observer is separated by 1.00 m and Pam is directly in front of speaker 1. The speed of sound is 343 m/s for this problem.

Answer 1

At which observer will the sound be the loudest?

Pam, the observer directly in front of Speaker 1. Since the speakers are playing the same tone in phase, the sound waves will be in phase and will combine constructively at the point directly in front of Speaker 1. This will result in the loudest sound at this point.