Weekly Blog 3/11/18 - Analog and Digital Sounds

Digital-and-Analog-Wave.jpg.

Summary 

Analog technology is any kind of non digital tool that is used to create an "analogy" of what it is measuring or doing. For example, in a clock the hands are representing time. This doesn't mean that the clock is time but rather that the clock is creating an analogy of time. Digital technology, however, is different. Unlike analog technology, digital technology takes the information, then converts it into numbers to store or display. Digital technology is generally faster and easier to read than analog technology. Also, more information can be stored in less space using numbers and digital technology that with analog. However, this doesn't exactly mean that digital technology is better. While it may be more efficient, many argue that digital technology is sacrificing quality for convienience. In the image above, you can see the difference between an analog and digital recording. In the digital recording, lots of information is lost. However, you can improve the quality of a digital recording by increasing the sampling rate which is basically recording more heights out of more points on the original recording.

SP 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data

I analyzed data when I created two graphs of digital recordings based on the same analog recording at different sampling rates. Comparing the graphs side by side showed me the how good the quality of an analog recording is compared to a digital one. However, when analyzing my graphs I found that the more points I collect or the higher the sampling rate, the less information will be lost on the digital recording. This reminded me of how taking a picture on a good camera with higher resolution compares to one on an old, bad camera. Just like digital recordings with more numbers and data, images with higher resolution and more pixels are better quality than ones with less. 

XCC: Struction and Function

Sounds travels differently through different mediums because of their structure. When molecules are closer together, it allows sound to travel faster because the sound vibrations and energy can move without losing and having to use any energy. Sound slowly through the air, faster in liquids, and even faster through solids. On a cold day, molecules will contract and come closer together allowing sound to travel faster. The structure and formation of molecules in all of these different mediums cause  sound vibrations to travel through and function differently when encountered.