University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT
Fall Semester 2008
PHYCS 199POM
Freshman Physics Discovery Course
The Physics of Music/Physics of Musical Instruments
Professor Steven Errede (3-0074/serrede@uiuc.edu)
Laboratory-Discussion POM 1:00-2:50 pm Friday 6105 Eng. Sci. Bldg. CRN Call # 34859
Credit: 2 hour
Fractal Music - e.g. using the 3-D Sierpinski Pyramid (the Sierpinski Triangle has fractal dimension 1.584)
Beethoven's Piano Sonata no. 15, op. 28, 3rd Movement (Scherzo) is a combination of binary and ternary units reiterating on diminishing scales, similar to the Sierpinski Structure !!!
The Physics 199POM lecture-lab course will cover the following topics and will have accompanying lab demonstrations and experimental setups for hands-on direct learning experiences for the students: the physics of sound (propagation of sound waves), the physics of hearing (psycho-acoustics), the physics of music (all musical styles, and music in the natural world -- living organisms and physical processes), the physics of musical instruments (brass, wind, strings percussion, song, electronic, computer and beyond).
A First-Year Discovery Program Course: Enrollment is restricted to freshmen. Freshmen students can enroll in only one Discovery course.