Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2000/09/11/one_dimensional_sound_waves_enough/

One dimensional sound waves – enough already!

It's very kind of you all to point out our lack of knowledge of physics, but...

By Andrew Thomas

Posted in Bootnotes, 11th September 2000 16:22 GMT

OK, we surrender.

When we claimed last week that sound waves couldn't move in one dimension, we didn't know what we were letting ourselves in for.

Now thanks to dozens of readers explaining the subject to us v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y with the aid of Slinkys, we understand that sound waves are compression waves so they can move in one dimension (well, two actually if you count time).

Thanks to the 73 readers who've emailed explanations to date. We now know so much about sound waves that we could probably give a lecture on the subject.

You can all stop now. Please? ®

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