Question

Suppose headphones were placed on a student, and a 500-Hz sound was fed to the left ear

slightly later than to the right ear. The student will discern the source of sound to be at about 45°
to the right of center. Why?
What is the approximate time delay in the response of the left ear?

Answer 1

0.05 ms

Step-by-step explanation:

The speed of sound in air is about 343 m/s. If the sound waves are coming from a source that is 1 meter away, then it will take about 3.43 microseconds for the sound waves to reach the right ear and about 3.53 microseconds for the sound waves to reach the left ear. This is a difference of about 0.097 microseconds, which is about 0.05 ms.

The human brain is very good at detecting small differences in time, and it uses this information to determine the direction of a sound source. When the sound waves reach the left ear slightly later than the right ear, the brain interprets this as a sound coming from the right side. The greater the difference in time, the further to the right the brain will perceive the sound to be.

In the case of a 500 Hz sound, the brain will perceive the sound to be coming from about 45° to the right of center if the sound waves reach the