boys—representing the medium of communication—have all been
standing still except for a small temporary displacement.
In a similar manner the cricket ball gives the bat a sudden push; the
bat pushes the air next to it; that air gives the air around it a push;
and so a wave of compression travels outwards in all directions like
an expanding bubble. Yet all that any particular bit of air does is to
move a small fraction of an inch away from the cause of the
disturbance and back again. As the original impulse is spread over an
ever-expanding wave-front the extent of this tiny air movement
becomes less and less and the sound fainter and fainter ...
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