Resonant Shower Cavity and Aquarium in Monterey, CA

 

Jellys in the tank I took a photo of

Last night, I was humming in the shower of my cheap motel in Monterey. As I hit a low note in my little ditty, the volume of my song jumped substantially. I was a bit surprised, but thankfully I understood why this occurred. I had unintentionally found the fundamental mode's frequency for this shower. 

I should explain that the geometry of this shower is unconventional. The showers in this cheap motel are 6'6" tall, 3' wide, 4'6" long tiled rectangular prisms with a thin glass door on hinges. It's a dark, claustrophobic shower cavity and a decent approximation of a Helmholtz resonator.

The fundamental mode of a rectangular cavity depends on the two larger dimensions and if you know the speed of sound in the box, you can calculate that frequency. I found it to be about 178 Hz. I was humming the song shown below and the low note that caused the resonation was E on the 2nd standard octave. This is about 82.4 Hz. 82.4 times 2 is pretty close to 178 Hz, so I reckon my estimates on the dimensions of the shower chamber are off.



Anyways, it's interesting to think about how air carries sound and how one might manipulate that fact to change the volume. 

Photos from the aquarium: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ikHixXCPF6CJDUzy9



The acoustic frequencies of importance

https://muted.io/note-frequencies/

Some notes on resonant frequencies

https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Electricity_and_Magnetism/Electromagnetics_and_Applications_(Staelin)/09%3A_Electromagnetic_Waves/9.04%3A_Cavity_resonators


Over the First Midterms

 


The first set of graduate school midterms are behind me. I solved some equations and missed a couple points here and there. Work goes on and taking it one step at a time. 

My mom and brother came to town a couple weeks ago. It was nice to spend some time comfortably around the city. I got to show them Northeastern and we went shopping before a nice dinner. I think often about what my life might be like if I moved out further to the country or closer to the midwest.

Posters and protests are occurring at universities across the US against the violence in the Levant. Students at MIT were threatened with suspension for continued protests in Lobby 7. I've seen many posters on the issue at NEU.

I wouldn't be such a patriot if I didn't have to be. Strong and fair systems are needed for peace. Here's hoping and praying. 


Beyond the stress of life, I went out Halloween weekend with a couple friends. We saw the Northeastern Men's Hockey team get whooped by Merrimack College and then visited The Black Rose in downtown Boston. Good times.




The $5 chicken at Costco inspired this cult wanting for their sustenance. 


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