The Interplay of Music and Physics

Why do musical instruments make the sounds that they do, and not others? Why are some combinations of sounds considered pleasing, while others are not? Physicists and mathematicians have pondered these questions for thousands of years, and the answers are fundamentally simple but practically complex. The close connection between music and physics will be explored in this presentation, from both the scientist's and the musician's perspective. Laurie McNeil is Chair and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of North Carolina. She received her doctorate in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.