[superjawes]

Interestingly, the distance traveled by a speaker will decrease as frequency increases for a given sound level. The pressure produced will stay the same, but the distance a speaker needs to travel at 1kHz to make a sound wave at 1mPa pressure level (for example) is much shorter than the distance a speaker cone must travel to make a similar 1mPa sound at 50Hz.

Not something you often think about, but it makes sense. The air displacement you get from a speaker is going to be determined by the distance (how far the diaphragm moves from resting position) AND the velocity (how fast the diaphragm is moving) the number of pulses per second. This could be how one might make the mistake of thinking that higher frequency means higher volume.

EDIT: erm...I think I may be wrong about velocity. I would still be curious to see if someone can confirm or deny, but I corrected the statement to something that should be correct.

I'm also rusty on my physics, but I do seem to remember something about higher frequency electromagnetic waves being more "energetic" than lower frequency ones. That could also create confusion.

 

[bigshot]

Excursion is the term for that.

 

[ninjaphone]

I just looked back at this thread now and saw how many of you guys quoted me.... I just re-read what I wrote before reading the comments and had to facepalm myself.  Wow.  Obviously the frequency (pitch) and amplitude (loudness) are not the same thing or even dependent on one another.    Sorry guys for typing that carelessly (or half asleep?).