Mu Rong lightly flicked her fingers, turning the tuning fork.
The Y-shaped tuning fork inserted into the base vibrated rhythmically.
Buzz~ Buzz buzz~
Mu Rong raised a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, indicating to Shen Qi not to speak, as the sound wave display was recording the changes in the surrounding sound waves.
Shen Qi listened to the buzzing sound of the tuning fork vibrating and looked at the sound wave display screen. A series of continuous wave-shaped images appeared on the screen, showing a periodicity.
The tuning fork experiment ended quickly.
"Shen Qi, what did you hear?" Mu Rong asked.
Shen Qi replied, "I heard f(t)."
"Any musical note, that is, a periodic sound, can be represented by an appropriate combination of Harmonic Wave. So what is the coefficient of f(t)?" Mu Rong asked again.
"I don't know." Shen Qi shook his head.
"Have no idea?"
"I really don't know, the conditions aren't right."
"Actually, Shen Qi, you just said that what you heard wasn't a sound, but f(t)."
"Of course I know the Fourier series of f(t), but to find the coefficients of f(t)..." Shen Qi stared at the screen of the sound wave display, trying to find some useful clues.
"Stop looking at the screen. Your current skill level is limited, it won't help." Mu Rong operated the computer and printer connected to the sonic display. Beep beep beep, the printer started printing.
"Senior sister, you know perfectly well that my abilities are limited, yet you still ask me questions I can't answer?" Shen Qi was speechless.
"I'll only know if I ask," Mu Rong said matter-of-factly, chuckling to herself.
"Where's the poise of a female PhD from Yenching University, senior sister?"
"The phrase 'debonair' is used to describe male PhD students. I hope you, Shen Qi, can become such a god-like figure someday." Mu Rong spread the printed blueprints on the lab table. "Shen Qi, take another look at the blueprints."
The printed waveform had clear coordinate scales, and Shen Qi immediately understood. "The coefficient a0 is the amplitude, which is 0.001? sinωt. Isn't ω the frequency, or 72000? f(t)? Just integrate it and divide by T, and you're done."
"So Shen Qi, you're still instinctively using mathematical thinking to approach physics problems. Of course, physics can't be separated from mathematics, but do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Mu Rong straightened up and asked.
"Teacher Mu, are you referring to the Wave in G Major? Why is it called the Wave in G Major? I can understand the wave; the vibration of the tuning fork collides with nearby air molecules, causing them to condense and create another rarefied space in the previous positions of these air molecules, which is called sparseness."
"So what our ears receive is the condensation and dilution of air molecules. This process is represented by an instrument as a set of wave patterns. We can expand f(t) according to the Fourier series and use Mathematical Physics models to qualitatively and quantitatively explain the nature and mystery of sound. We can even use it to create sound wave weapons of different frequencies. But I still don't quite understand what role G major played in this experiment?" Shen Qi answered fluently but still had doubts.
Instead of answering, Mu Rong asked, "You don't usually listen to music, do you?"
Shen Qi: "Who said that? I have a particular love for music. I listen to Dehua, Xueyou, Yixun, and Jay Chou's songs all the time."
Mu Rong chuckled speechlessly, "Have you heard of Deldra?"
Shen Qi shook his head. "I've heard of Dede Ma."
"Where is Ravel?"
"I prefer Tengger."
"Junior brother, you still have a long way to go before you become a dashing male god. Just studying, solving problems, and winning competitions won't cut it. Look at the physicists hanging on the lab walls; they're all middle-aged or older men, but they were incredibly handsome when they were young. They were all intelligent and artistic heartthrobs."
Mu Rong took off her frameless glasses, breathed on them, wiped the lenses, and put them back on. "C major is too moderate, stable, even pale; F major is a smile through tears; only G major is full of vitality, making people incredibly excited. Don't you think physics and G major are most similar?"
"I don't think so." Shen Qi shook his head. He didn't think C major was weak and powerless, F major was full of laughter and tears, and A, B, C, D, E, F, and G majors all sounded the same to him.
"Okay, never mind." Mu Rong sighed; it was surprising that a female PhD in physics had such an artistic side.
"Did you understand this experiment? We might need to do hands-on practice later," Mu Rong asked, then pulled the tuning fork off the base.
Shen Qi took the tuning fork and fiddled with it on the base. "I basically understand it. Come on, let me demonstrate it now. Teacher Mu, please guide me... Teacher Mu, where do I insert this thing? Why can't I insert it?"
"Shen Qi, how can you be so clumsy! Your practical skills are so weak! Can't you even insert it into the slot?"
"Don't use brute force. There's a switch. If you break the experimental equipment, Shen Qi, you'll have to pay for it, I'm telling you. I'm broke lately, I can't even afford to get my car serviced, so don't you dare damage it."
"If you can't afford car maintenance, don't drive. Safety first."
"..."
Under Mu Rong's guidance, Shen Qi practiced the sound wave experiment again and again. His practical skills were indeed lacking. He had been engaged in theoretical research for the past year and hadn't done much experimentation.
Once the tuning fork was in place and the experiment began, the teacher and student remained silent, as human conversation can affect the sound wave recording results.
Shen Qi doesn't need to go to the teaching building for classes; he can spend all day in the laboratory.
The other members of the Physics Competition Team arrived at the lab in the afternoon, and Shen Qi left as soon as they arrived.
Shen Qi didn't like listening to Mu Rong's explanation of the CPhO theory to the whole team; his strength lay in theory, and he figured he could just go back and work on practice problems.
Mu Rong had to take care of most of the team members, so she would talk about more in-depth physics theories when she was alone with Shen Qi, but she would mainly use the conventional approach when speaking to the whole team.
Shen Qi's main purpose in seeking advice from Mu Rong was to broaden his knowledge; CPhO was a secondary element.
There are always a few days each month when Shen Qi returns to Class 2 of Senior Three to conduct a round of inspections.
Gu Xiaodan and Chen Xiaoting were especially grateful to Shen Qi. After studying Shen Qi's mathematical insights, their math scores improved significantly within a few months and remained stable.
Gu Xiaodan vowed that she would work twice as hard in the next two or three months to apply to a university in the capital. She gave up on Peking University and Tsinghua University, and wondered if she could get into Beijing Institute of Technology or Beijing University of Chemical Technology.
"I, Gu Xiaodan, admire no one but Boss Shen Qi in my life. I went to university in the capital not for anything else, but to serve him faithfully. The most important thing in life is to be grateful," Gu Xiaodan said, patting her chest.
"Traitor, coward!" Chen Xiaoting still harbored resentment towards Gu Xiaodan, her body trembling slightly.
"Chen Xiaoting, you can call me a coward, but you can never doubt my loyalty to Boss Shen Qi!" Gu Xiaodan slammed her hand on the table, extremely angry.
Chen Xiaoting also stood up, refusing to back down. "Traitor, coward, no principles!"
Chen Xiaoting has grown to 1.75 meters tall; her chest is a bit flat, but her legs are long.
Gu Xiaodan, at only 1.64 meters tall, was slightly outmatched in terms of presence. "Forget it, a good man doesn't fight with a woman."
"Gu Xiaodan, shut up! Let's talk about getting into Beijing Institute of Technology or Beijing University of Chemical Technology first. Stop bragging." Shen Qi scolded Gu Xiaodan, then asked Chen Xiaoting, "What about you? Where are you applying?"
"I..." Chen Xiaoting hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself, and finally said, "I haven't thought about it yet."
"Xiaoting, don't you have a special talent? Can you play the piano or the violin? I remember around this time last year, I suggested we go to the movies, split the bill, but you said you didn't have time because you had to practice the piano. So we went to the school gate for a quick meal, and you paid the bill," Shen Qi asked.
"Yeah, you used imaginary roots, real roots, Abelian group and stuff like that, and you almost drove the shop assistant crazy." Chen Xiaoting couldn't help but laugh when she thought about it.
Time flies, and looking back, Shen Qi couldn't help but chuckle, "That's not the point. I just want to ask you, what kind of piano did you practice?"
"Violin."
"Then you can get extra points on your college entrance exam, right?"
"No." Chen Xiaoting shook her head and explained, "Artistic talents no longer give extra points. The only extra points for the college entrance exam are for provincial-level outstanding students, 'Three Good Students,' top three in national subject competitions, and achievements in sports. There are also children of martyrs, ethnic minorities... those are the only extra points I can remember. So, Shen Qi, if you take the college entrance exam, you can get extra points."
"Does Shen Qi even need extra points? He's already scored almost 740 on his mock exam. If we add another ten or twenty points, holy crap, he'll easily surpass 750!" Gu Xiaodan couldn't help but turn around and say. After thinking about it carefully, she realized that this was incredibly unfair. The top students with good grades could get extra points, but Shen Qi didn't need any at all. It was such a waste; she should have gotten them instead.