Learning to read an acoustics equation as a descriptive sentence

Teaching theoretical acoustics at the graduate level requires the use of mathematics, and often the math can be difficult enough that students get lost in the math and can’t see the underlying physical concepts the equations are describing. What many students don’t realize is that a mathematical equation is just a shorthand notation that condenses a long and complicated sentence into a few symbols. Being able to read and interpret an equation as a sentence (which is more than just reading the names of the symbols or variables) is a valuable skill that can help students grasp the underlying physical concepts. This talk will provide several examples from fundamental acoustics of how helping students learn to read and interpret mathematical equations as sentences can help them reveal and grasp the physical concepts the equations are describing.