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From:
Stuart Frankel <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Mon, 8 Feb 2016 01:10:02 -0500
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Sent the previous message a little too fast; just thought of another way 
to explain the objection.

Theodore, you say, I think, this: In one second, the ear will receive 
415 complete cycles of a 415 tone (assuming a pure sine wave). It will 
receive 415.3 cycles of a 415.3 tone, and it will discard the fraction 
or, rather, not detect the fraction.

But - the ear isn't counting the cycles. The ear is *timing* the cycles. 
The 415.3 cycles will arrive slightly faster and therefore, in 
principle, can be heard as a higher pitch.

In practice, everyone seems to agree, the ear can't discriminate between 
pitches that close, but that's a matter which has been determined by 
experiment, not by logic.

best,
  Stuart
-- 
i still have a very small website
http://dustyfeet.com

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