Editing 165: Turn Signals
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
{{w|Turn signals}} are designed to flash between 60 and 120 times per minute. Most turn signals are driven by an {{w|electromechanical}} device. Due to manufacturing tolerances, battery state of charge, ambient temperature, and various other factors, two different turn signals rarely flash at the same rate, even among cars of the same make and model. Having two cars with turn signals flashing at the same rate would be a rare event. | {{w|Turn signals}} are designed to flash between 60 and 120 times per minute. Most turn signals are driven by an {{w|electromechanical}} device. Due to manufacturing tolerances, battery state of charge, ambient temperature, and various other factors, two different turn signals rarely flash at the same rate, even among cars of the same make and model. Having two cars with turn signals flashing at the same rate would be a rare event. | ||
| β | [[Cueball]] notices this event, and expresses his excitement to the driver of the other car, despite being stopped at an intersection. The other driver is confused by this. Turn signal frequency is something that most people don't take notice of. | + | [[Cueball]] notices this event, and expresses his excitement to the driver of the other car, despite being stopped at an intersection. The other driver is confused by this. Turn signal frequency is something that most people don't take notice of. Cueball, however, takes it as an opportunity to strike up a conversation and make a new friend. |
The beat frequency is the rate at which two frequencies transition from being ''{{w|phase (waves)|in phase}}'' with each other to being ''out of phase'' and then to being ''in phase'' again. In other words, two turn signals that begin by flashing together will transition to flashing opposite each other and then back to flashing together, and the rate at which this process cycles is the beat frequency. Because the beat frequency is simply the ''difference'' between the two turn signal frequencies, two turn signals whose frequencies are closer together will take longer to pass through the in-phase/out-of-phase cycle, and two signals whose frequencies are identical would take an infinite time (i.e., their relative phase never changes). The beating of turn signals is an easy phenomenon to observe when one is stopped at a {{w|traffic light}} with nothing to do but watch the flashing turn signals, and it is the lack of beating that Cueball noticed and excitedly reported. | The beat frequency is the rate at which two frequencies transition from being ''{{w|phase (waves)|in phase}}'' with each other to being ''out of phase'' and then to being ''in phase'' again. In other words, two turn signals that begin by flashing together will transition to flashing opposite each other and then back to flashing together, and the rate at which this process cycles is the beat frequency. Because the beat frequency is simply the ''difference'' between the two turn signal frequencies, two turn signals whose frequencies are closer together will take longer to pass through the in-phase/out-of-phase cycle, and two signals whose frequencies are identical would take an infinite time (i.e., their relative phase never changes). The beating of turn signals is an easy phenomenon to observe when one is stopped at a {{w|traffic light}} with nothing to do but watch the flashing turn signals, and it is the lack of beating that Cueball noticed and excitedly reported. | ||
