Frequency to wavelength

Wavelength is wave speed divided by frequency. Concert A at 440 Hz has a wavelength of 0.78 metres in air. A 40 Hz bass note is 8.6 metres, and a 10 kHz treble note is just 34 millimetres.

The enormous range of audible wavelengths — from over seventeen metres at 20 Hz down to seventeen millimetres at 20 kHz, a factor of a thousand — explains most of what is difficult about acoustics. High frequencies are directional and easily absorbed because they are small compared with objects in a room. Low frequencies wrap around obstacles and interact with room dimensions because they are not. That single fact is behind why tweeters need aiming, why bass leaks through walls, and why a small speaker cannot produce deep bass efficiently.