To see how beats arise, let’s see what happens when we combine two sinusoidal waves with the same amplitude A but with slightly different frequencies \(f_1\) and \(f_2\). Figure 13-21 shows the result: The total wave is also a sinusoidal wave whose frequency \(f\) is the average of \(f_1\) and \(f_2\), but with an amplitude that varies between 0 and \(2A\). We use the term beats for this up-and-down variation in amplitude. The frequency of the beats, also called the \(\textbf{beat frequency}\), is equal to the \(\textit{absolute value}\) of the difference between the two frequencies: