The wavelength of sound...what does it really mean?

[paradigm]

What exactly does it mean for a 100Hz signal to have a wavelength of approx. 11.3 feet?

a. What will I experience standing exactly 11.3 feet away from the sound source as opposed to 5.65 feet away?

[UGP]

What exactly does it mean for a 100Hz signal to have a wavelength of approx. 11.3 feet?

a. What will I experience standing exactly 11.3 feet away from the sound source as opposed to 5.65 feet away?

in a totally open space nothing, but of course we don't hear in open space, with out at least a floor/ground, so depending on the frequency and your distance from the walls/ground/floor and the source, and the source's distance form the walls/floors/ceilings... you'll get either a re-enforcement or a null... your question as stated above does not have enough information, about the only answer is it would be louder when closer and softer when further away. (but you did stay standing so I could assume your standing on a flat non absorbent floor... but I won't)

[Sydney]

Frequency is the number of crests of a wave that move past a given point in a given unit of time...
What you will experience is the same number of crests moving past per unit time; ONLY difference is the amplitude will be reduced due to distance ( inverse square law ).
Excluding reflections of course.
In this particular case the distance between crests is 11.3'.

[billfitzmaurice]

What will I experience standing exactly 11.3 feet away from the sound source as opposed to 5.65 feet away?

Nothing. Wavelengths affect phase, and phase can't be heard. Only when you have two or more sound sources and/or there are boundary reflections of the original wave are phase relationships important, and then it's critically so.
As for what a wavelength is, it's the distance that it takes a wave to go through 360 degrees of phase shift.

[fbov]

What exactly does it mean ...

Ask the meaning of life, get a wide variety of answers.

What does it mean to you?

Well, it means that if you are listening to a speaker that's 1/4 wavelength from the wall, you'd expect a big null at the corresponding frequency. Space them 11.3*12/4=33.9" from the wall and the dip's at 100Hz. Make it more like 17" and the dip's at 200Hz.

If you're listening in a room that's 22.6' long (about like mine), acoustically reflective, and you stand half way between, you'll hear a big peak at 100Hz (and 50Hz, 150Hz, 200Hz, etc.)

In both cases, I've used a reflection as a second source (per Bill), and selected the trivially easy phase cases. Meaning varies with context.

Have fun,
Frank

[Chris Roemer]

What exactly does it mean for a 100Hz signal to have a wavelength of approx. 11.3 feet?

a. What will I experience standing exactly 11.3 feet away from the sound source as opposed to 5.65 feet away?

But (AFAIK), if you were outdoors, and had 2 drivers at those distances from you, playing the exact same (time sync'd) 100 Hz signal, the "crests" (compression waves) from one driver, would arrive simultaneously at your eardrum as the "troughs" (rarefaction -sp? waves) from the other, theoretically canceling each other out, and you'd hear nothing. This is very similar to the Klingon cloaking device, it just uses a different band of frequencies.

Chris

[Sydney]

But (AFAIK),

I'm having a hard time conceptualizing your scenario...
( Too freaked out by the whole "Klingon thang" )

[UGP]

I'm having a hard time conceptualizing your scenario...
( Too freaked out by the whole "Klingon thang" )

but don't get it confused with the Romulan cloaking system

[Chris Roemer]

but don't get it confused with the Romulan cloaking system

oops

Do I have the wrong alien?

[Sydney]

Uhoh...
Boldly going where no post has gone before...
http://iws.collin.edu/cmorgan/diffuser/chap2.html
Engage!

[wlb]

oops

Do I have the wrong alien?

Nope, the Romulans had one too in episode 58. Captain Kirk and Spock stole it from them.

[donradick]

What exactly does it mean for a 100Hz signal to have a wavelength of approx. 11.3 feet?

a. What will I experience standing exactly 11.3 feet away from the sound source as opposed to 5.65 feet away?

You've already gotten some great answers and information.
Concerning your original question, for a 100Hz signal, you will experience a wide variation in sound level as you move around the room. You can call this phase, or it can also be called pressure and rarefaction points.
This is a prime reason why people recommend 2 or more subwoofers for a high-quality setup.

A personal anecdote.
There was a big city truck or pump about a block away. Very loud, intense low frequency throb or hum. When I moved forward or back about 6 feet, the sound would get very loud or almost completely disappear.