5.4 Vibrating string: normal modes of vibration The frequencies at which standing waves can be set up on a string are the string's natural frequencies. They can be determined quite easily. The first thing to note is that the end of the string being held by the person is tightly gripped so any pulse or wave that returns to the person's hand will be reflected and inverted. Therefore both ends of the string can be considered to be fixed and so must be at nodes of the standing wave. But you learned earlier that the distance between adjacent no
5.3 Vibrating string: standing waves on a string We still haven't answered the question of how standing waves are set up on a string. To do so we need to return to our string, fixed at one end and held in someone's hand at the other end. Imagine now that instead of sending a single pulse along the string, the person flicks their hand up and down periodically and sends a sinusoidal wave along the string. This wave gets reflected and inverted at the fixed end and travels back towards the person holding the string. There are now two waves of t
5.2 Vibrating string: speed of wave propagation If standing waves are set up when two travelling waves moving in opposite directions interact, then how are standing waves set up on a string and why are they set up only at certain frequencies? To help answer these questions, I want you first to imagine a length of string that is fixed at one end and held in someone's hand at the other. Suppose the person holding the string flicks their end of the string in such a way that an upward pulse is sent along the string. As the pulse pa
4 Excitation For a player to be able to sound a musical instrument, there must be a means of inputting energy to set up the vibration. This energy may be introduced in a short, sharp burst or continuously over a period of time. In the case of brass instruments such as the trumpet and trombone, and woodwind instruments such as the flute and oboe, the player feeds in energy by blowing air into the instrument. The energy can be supplied in a short burst – in which case short-lived ‘staccato’ note
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Audio Materials
8.1 The octave sound One feature of pitch that seems to be universal to all cultures is that for musical purposes the pitch range is divided into discrete steps: for instance, the notes of a scale. This is not to say that musicians rigidly adhere to those steps when they play, but the existence of such steps is fundamental to the way music is conceived and organised. Different cultures have different ways of defining the steps in their scale of pitches, but nearly all cultures take the octave as their starting po
7.1 The subjective experience Two of the properties of sound that we have examined from an objective stance, frequency and amplitude, have a fundamental importance to our appreciation of sound and music. In this section I want to look more closely at the subjective interpretation of these two properties of sound. I should stress that I am talking about sine-wave sounds in this section. The complex, non-sinusoidal sounds encountered in music add extra layers of complexity to the relationships I am discussing here. Ke
6.3 Root-mean-square amplitude One drawback of the amplitude as I have defined it is that although it allows the relative sizes of sine waves to be compared, it does not give a good idea of what a sine wave can deliver in absolute terms. For instance, a sine wave with an amplitude of 10 volts has twice the amplitude of one with an amplitude of 5 volts. But is a power source that delivers a sine wave with an amplitude of 10 volts as powerful as, say, a 10 volt battery? Could you use it to drive a bulb and get the same illum
6.1 Defining amplitude Another important property of a sine wave we need to be able to specify is its amplitude. In essence, the amplitude of a sine wave is its size. Unfortunately there are various ways of defining what is meant by the size of a sine wave, and you are likely to come across many of them in material you look at outside this unit. Before I explain what our definition is, it will help matters if we look at what is meant by the average value of a sine wave. Figure 16 shows a sinusoidally a
4.2 Frequency, wavelength and the speed of sound The speed of sound has a joint relationship with both the wavelength and the frequency of the sound. To see why, recall that at the end of Section 2.5, in connection with the wave produced by a tuning fork, I said ‘in the time it has taken for the source to go through one cycle of oscillation, the wave h
5.9 Developing other systems methods There are many more methods that are regarded as systems approaches for managing complexity (e.g. Rosenhead, 1989a; Flood and Carson, 1988; Flood and Jackson, 1991; Mingers and Gill, 1997; Francois, 1997; Flood, 1999; Jackson, 2000). The systems practitioners responsible for developing these come from a varied background, but in the main their experiences are similar to those described for Checkland, Beer, Espejo and the T301 team. All wanted to be able either to take action that stakeholders
5.5 Experiences that motivated the development of systems methods I have already introduced various systems methods. Behind all of these methods, there has generally been a champion, a promoter aided by countless co-workers, students, etc. To paraphrase the French sociologist of technology, Bruno Latour: we are never confronted with a systems method, but with a gamut of weaker and stronger associations; thus understanding what a method is, is the same task as understanding who the people are. A method, like any social technology, depends on many peopl
4.6 Appreciating some implications for practice I think for most people, the CSA case study would be experienced as a complex situation. If so this would be a good example of perceived complexity. Remember though, if you engaged with it as if it were a difficulty, just as the government minister did in Activity 42, you would not d
4.2 Articulating your appreciation of complexity Initially, I would like you to notice whether and how your appreciation of the phrase ‘managing complexity’ has changed since you started the unit. As you work through Section 4 you will encounter a number of ways of thinking about complexity that may be new to you, so it becomes important to record your developing understanding. To help you with this, return to your notes on Author(s):
3.7 Being ethical As outlined in Table 3, ethics within systemic practice are perceived as operating on multiple levels. Like the systems concept of hierarchy, what we perceive to be good at one level might be bad at another. Because an epistemological position must be chosen, rather than taken as a g
3.2 Being aware of the constraints and possibilities of the observer It is often claimed that the essence of a systems approach is that of seeing the world in a special way. This immediately prompts the question of what is meant by the phrase ‘seeing the world’. Because we live so intimately with the world of objects, categories and people and phenomena, we tend to think our own way of seeing the world is the only way, or even of thinking, ‘Well that is my view because the world is like that’. Actually, your view is special in several separate ways.
7.1 Introduction The last activity was a demanding task. People I asked to do it during the writing of this unit, found it took a lot of concentration but it brought up lots of ideas, feelings and suggestions for action. Most of them were also concerned their rich picture might not be good enough. I imagine you will share some of these reactions. If you share any of these concerns, remember there are lots of ways of drawing a good rich picture and almost all rich pictures can be improved. Improving your rich
2.3 Taking responsibility for your own learning Not much of this unit conforms to the traditional pattern I mentioned earlier – the theory-example-exercise pattern. In particular, you will find you are expected to discover much of it for yourself. Why is this? This is a legitimate question and deserves a full answer. One year, a student at a residential summer school complained I had not taught him properly. I was, he told me, an expert and so why did I not demonstrate how to tackle the problem he was working on and pass my expertise on
2 Part 1 Starting the unit Welcome to T306_2 Managing complexity: a systems approach – introduction. As I write, I experience a sense of excitement. For me, as for you, this is the beginning of the unit. These are the first few sentences I'm writing and so, although I have a good idea of how the unit is going to turn out, the details are by no means clear. Nevertheless, the excitement and anticipation I, and maybe you, are experiencing now is an important ingredient in what will become our experiences of the u
18.2.2 Compatibility An innovation that is compatible with the experiences, values and needs of its potential buyers will be adopted more rapidly than one that isn't compatible. For example mobile phones have spread rapidly because they are compatible with social and cultural trends towards faster communications, increased personal mobility and the desirability of high-tech gadgets. However the car seat belt, patented in 1903, wasn't adopted on any significant scale until the 1970s (Author(s):
