Recent comments in /f/explainlikeimfive

tomalator t1_j1qd532 wrote

Reply to Eli5: When listening to music with headphones, how are some sounds only on the left or the right earphone? by JustTransportation51

If you look at your headphone jack, you may notice there are black rings on it. Those rings separate different channels. One ring means only one channel (one channel and ground). Two rings means you have 2 channels (left, right, and ground) and 3 rings means there's an additional channel for a microphone.

Sending different signals down the different channels means each speaker plays a different sound. By changing the relative volumes (and timings by a very small amount) our brains are tricked into thinking the sound is coming from a certain point in space, including moving from one side to the other.

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Flair_Helper t1_j1qd2ix wrote

Reply to Eli5: When listening to music with headphones, how are some sounds only on the left or the right earphone? by JustTransportation51

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BooksInBrooks t1_j1q9qmf wrote

Reply to comment by Northern64 in Eli5: When listening to music with headphones, how are some sounds only on the left or the right earphone? by JustTransportation51

Building on this, at a live concert, sounds arrive from different directions.

Violins are usually on the (audience's) left, cellos on the right. Singers are often arranged from left to right from high voices to low.

In performances of a particular work, I'm used to hearing the trumpet solo from the right, but in two performances this year it (and the drums) came from the left.

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Northern64 t1_j1q8ix4 wrote

Reply to Eli5: When listening to music with headphones, how are some sounds only on the left or the right earphone? by JustTransportation51

Because the audio signal is either sent to the left or the right.

Wired headphones have 3 or 4 connections in the jack left, right, ground, and mic. When an audio track is made part of the recording is the balance of left and right channels. So if you make a song you could say all drums always come from the left, then when you play it back it would send drums down the 'left' wire.

Wireless headphones are the same idea but with radio waves instead of wires, sometimes there's a wire through the headband, sometimes it's another tiny radio going through your head so that left and right talk to one another.

This idea is generally referred to as "audio channels" surround sound systems can be 5, 7, or more channels, with movie theaters being 20 or more, with subwoofers getting special notation and their own channel 5.1 meaning 5 channels (left, right, center, back left, back right) and one sub woofer for deep bass. Again which sound goes to which speaker depends on how the audio was mixed when recorded. And all a mixer is doing here is directing audio 'traffic' to the different channels the creator wants

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phiwong t1_j1pla20 wrote

Reply to ELI5 why people bow after a performance? by WalterTheMoral

Bowing is generally a sign of respect or recognition of appreciation or gifts.

Different cultures do it differently and in different times. Some do have a fairly elaborate culture of bowing and greeting others - others don't. Yes, there are places where bowing when meeting someone in workplaces or when first greeting someone in their homes.

In most places, bowing is considered a fairly formal gesture. It is less likely to be used in informal gatherings and between friends.

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tsagdiyev t1_j1pl1vk wrote

Reply to ELI5 why people bow after a performance? by WalterTheMoral

It’s just an etiquette thing. It’s to thank the audience for watching the performance, and for clapping. It doesn’t really have to do with it being about your “betters” with regard to a performance. But yes in some cultures it’s a sign of respect and may be done in settings like a meeting or something

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pseudonymmed t1_j1pbuf0 wrote

Reply to Eli5: Female circumcision by ThreesomeInk

It varies, different places have different practices, but it can often include removing the clitoris and some even sew the entrance to the vagina up (to be opened up later for her husband). The former is done to reduce female desire/pleasure so she won’t be unfaithful and the latter is done to ensure her virginity for her husband. it can be done on infants but is often performed on children or preteens. it can cause a lot of dangerous and painful effects.

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olucaslab t1_j1p5o21 wrote

Reply to comment by WatermelonJuice18 in ELI5 How do phones work? by WatermelonJuice18

Today mostly is all digital, some landlines came via 3G and 4G. And I’m doing the whole concept simplified.

Old times yes, it was all wires. Btw, calls between cities was hell. You pick the phone, says that want to talk with City B, City A operator telegraph to City B to connect you with then, if that connection exists then you will be connected to an operator to City B and then being able to “make the call” and sometimes there is a delay.

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Flair_Helper t1_j1p5dnk wrote

Reply to ELI5 How do phones work? by WatermelonJuice18

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explainlikeimfive-ModTeam t1_j1p5dkb wrote

Reply to ELI5 How do phones work? by WatermelonJuice18

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Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):

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olucaslab t1_j1p512o wrote

Reply to ELI5 How do phones work? by WatermelonJuice18

Your phone number is a code, when you call other code a computer listen to this code and search in a list “Ok, OP wants to talk with code 555” and if it matches, it makes the call and if not, says the error message.

Of course that’s in today terms, in the old times when you get your phone to call someone, a person promptly asks you “Want to make a call to who?” and it simply connects their wire to your wire manually.

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