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SilentHunter7 t1_j2dji9w wrote

Reply to comment by starnutq163 in Eli5 How exactly does Noise cancellation work? That too in such small airbuds by Professional-Ad3441

Superposition is a fancy way of saying the whole is equal to the sum of its parts.

If you add two waves, the amplitude of the resulting wave at any point is the sum of both the original waves at the point.

So if wave 1 is sin(x)

And wave 2 is -sin(x)

The two combined give us sin(x) - sin(x) = 0

That's how noise cancelling works.

Note that superposition only works in linear systems. Sound is linear, electromagnetic waves are linear, electric circuits using only linear components (Resistors, Inductors, Capacitors) are linear, etc.

Linearity is definitely beyond an ELI5 discussion though, I think.

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CodenameBuckwin t1_j2dngot wrote

Oh my god, that's what that class Linear Algebra was about?! I probably would have taken it if I had any idea about what the heck "linear" was referring to

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SilentHunter7 t1_j2dt3ec wrote

Yep! If you remember vectors, Cartesian geometry is also linear. Every vector is a linear superposition of eigenvectors, which are the x,y, and z unit vectors in 3D geometry.

Yeah, mine wasn't that great either. I didn't get it until I had linear signals classes and was like "huh...I wish I paid more attention in my linear algebra class."

They didn't do a very good job of explaining the applications of the class, I feel. Linearity applies to so many things.

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