What is the equation for a sound wave?

Answer 1

I am not averse to answering questions that are way too difficult, especially if they are as clearly asked as this one is. Unfortunately, there is no well defined equation for a sound wave that I can relate to you, because sound waves are extremely complicated. To be honest, electromagnetic waves like light are easier to describe physically. Sound waves by their very nature travel through media like air, water, metal, or walls. By contrast, light is blocked by walls that sound can penetrate. Sound waves are basically vibrations in air (or other media) that our ears can detect. The physics of the waves themselves, like how they're propagated, whether they resonate, at what frequency, for what duration -- these are things that cannot be summed in a single equation. I will answer the underlying philosophical point, however: If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? No, it doesn't. The sound of the tree falling is the signal and your ear is the receiver. No receiver, no sound. But it does create sound that you could hear, if you were there. (Of course, this is complicated by the fact that it may make a sound for deer or birds nearby...)

Answer 2

The equation for a sound wave is typically described using the formula for a simple harmonic wave: y(x,t) = A sin(kx - ωt), where y is the displacement of the wave at position x and time t, A is the amplitude, k is the wave number (related to the wavelength), x is the position coordinate, ω is the angular frequency, and t is the time coordinate.