While a piano is a complicated mechanical device, it can presumably be described by physics at the level of freshman mechanics (i.e., field theory should not be required). In spite of this apparent simplicity, it is very difficult to use Newton's laws to calculate the sound produced by a piano. In this talk I will give a brief introduction to the physics of the piano, and describe a few of the interesting problems involved in constructing such a physical model of the instrument. I will then describe our attempts to calculate the sound produced by a piano from first principles; i.e., using F=ma.
Coffee and cookies before the presentation at 3:20 pm, and refreshments after the presentation will both be served in Room 128.