teach-ict.com logo

THE education site for computer science and ICT

2. Sampling

Sampling is a method of converting an analogue sound signal into a set of binary numbers that are then stored in a digital file.

The diagram below shows a typical sound wave:

 

The idea of 'sampling' is to take measurements of the amplitude of the sound wave at various points in time. Like this:

 

Each of the samples above are measuring the amplitude of the signal at that instant. This results in a set of numbers like this:

Sample number Measurement
1 0.6
2 0.5
3 -0.3
4 -0.8
5 -0.1

Challenge see if you can find out one extra fact on this topic that we haven't already told you

Click on this link: what are sound samples