The physics department at Wells College will buy Data Acquisition Instrumentation for acoustic Spectrum Analysis. The equipment will be used primarily in an undergraduate interdisciplinary course in musical acoustics, for laboratory demonstration instruction in harmonic analysis of sound. Other uses include undergraduate research in harmonic analysis of musical instruments, in conjunction with the Music department; demonstration and lab work in microprocessor interfacing and experiment control, in conjunction with the Computer Science department; and demonstration of principles of the physics of signals and waves, and the Fourier transform, in mainstream introductory Physics courses. The instrumentation is IBM PC-based, and so is versatile, reasonably priced, and representative of current technology. The University will contribute an amount equal to the award.
