Frequency
How many times a wave vibrates per second, measured in hertz.
At a glance
Key signals
36% cross fields · reaches 11 more
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Music
- Explanation
- Examples
- Misconception
- Sourced relations 7
- Attribution
Dependencies
What this concept builds on and what it makes possible — derived from the atlas’s dependency, causal and structural relations, not from every related edge.
Enables · leads to
Absolute threshold of hearingdepends onFrequencyEstablished
Open Absolute threshold of hearing →
absolute threshold of hearing depends on frequency.
Mechanism: Sensitivity is best around 2–5 kHz and worse at the extremes.
- Wikipedia (English & German editions) verifiedmoderate evidence
Equal-loudness contourdepends onFrequencyEstablished
equal-loudness contour depends on frequency.
Mechanism: The ear's sensitivity varies strongly with frequency, which the contours capture.
- Wikipedia (English & German editions) verifiedmoderate evidence
Harmonic ratiois derived fromFrequencyEstablished
A harmonic ratio compares two frequencies.
Mechanism: The ratio is simply one frequency divided by another.
Pitchdepends onFrequencyEstablished
Pitch depends on frequency.
Mechanism: Higher frequency is heard as higher pitch; the ear and brain map frequency onto pitch.
System context
Frequencyis part ofSound waveEstablished
Frequency is a property of a sound wave.
Mechanism: Frequency counts how many wave cycles pass each second.
Cutoff frequencyis aFrequencyEstablished
cutoff frequency is a kind of frequency.
Mechanism: The cutoff is a specific frequency marking the filter's edge.
- Wikipedia (English & German editions) verifiedmoderate evidence
Fundamental frequencyis aFrequencyEstablished
fundamental frequency is a kind of frequency.
Mechanism: The fundamental is the first and lowest frequency of the harmonic series.
- Wikipedia (English & German editions) verifiedmoderate evidence
Structural role & consequence
Interpreted from the current atlas graph — what the connections mean, not just how many there are.
Removing this node lengthens the structural route between Audiogram and Cutoff frequency from 2 to 9 steps (they stay connected — alternative routes exist).
structural · Structural removal simulation — not a historical or causal counterfactual.
36% of its relationships cross field boundaries, reaching 11 other disciplines — unusual in a discipline where most concepts stay within their field.
structural · Structural graph analysis — not a claim of importance, causation or history.
Currently dark in the atlas: no verified source · no key date stored · 11 of 11 of its relations lack claim-level evidence.
atlas representation · Describes the current Thinking OS representation, not the state of the world.
Structural neighbourhood: 11 → 56 → 147 concepts reachable within 3 hops.
structural · Structural reach — being reachable is not the same as being understood.
cross-field
7 within-field, 4 cross-field
Strengths & constraints
Strengths
- Cross-disciplinary connector — 36% of its relationships cross field boundaries. structural
Constraints
- Evidence coverage currently thin in the atlas — few of its relationships carry claim-level evidence. atlas representation
- No dated history stored — the atlas records no key date for this concept. atlas representation
Conditions
- Read structurally — most of its relationships carry no external evidence yet, so claims here are graph-derived. structural
Dependency radial
What this concept builds on (left) and what it makes possible (right) — derived from dependency and causal relations.
What builds on this
3 concepts build on this directly, 3 in total, across 6 disciplines.
Structural downstream reach along dependency edges — not a claim of historical necessity.
Seen through each discipline
How this concept sits in each of its fields — derived from its real connections in the graph, not asserted.
Through this lens it connects to Sound wave, Oscillation, Pitch and Harmonic ratio.
Through this lens it connects to Sound wave, Pitch and Harmonic ratio.
Where you'll meet it
Journeys that walk you through this idea. You may recognise it from more than one.
Related ideas to explore
Concepts that look related but are not yet connected here — candidates for a connection to reason about, not established links.
This idea also appears in…
The same structure shows up in other disciplines. These are real recurrences drawn from the graph — a starting point for asking “what carries over, and what changes?”
Concepts
crosses a discipline boundary
crosses a discipline boundary
crosses a discipline boundary
- AudiogramAudiology
crosses a discipline boundary
- Connects 11 other ideas across 3 disciplines.
- A cross-disciplinary bridge — its connections reach into 11 other fields.
- Most of its connections are of the “Dependency” kind.
- It features in 1 learning journey.
Derived from the graph’s real structure — observations, not a score.
Sources
No primary source is attached to this concept yet. In a real deployment this would be required before publication.