Sound and Waves — Key Discoveries

Key Discoveries

Newton's Calculation of Speed of Sound (1687)

1687

Sir Isaac Newton, in his 'Principia Mathematica,' was among the first to attempt a theoretical calculation of the speed of sound. He assumed that sound propagation was an…

Laplace's Correction to Speed of Sound (1816)

1816

Pierre-Simon Laplace corrected Newton's formula by proposing that sound propagation is an adiabatic process, not isothermal. He argued that the compressions and rarefactions occur…

Huygens' Principle (1678)

1678

Christiaan Huygens proposed a geometric construction for finding the position of a propagating wavefront at some later time, given its current position. His principle states that…