ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Flack parameter

Okay kiddo, so let's pretend that you and your friend are playing catch with a ball. If you throw the ball really hard, your friend might have a hard time catching it because it's moving too fast.

Now, imagine that instead of a ball, you and your friend are playing catch with sound waves. Sound waves are like invisible balls that travel through the air and help us hear things.

The flack parameter is like a rule that helps us figure out how hard to throw the sound waves so that they're easier for our ears to catch. It's named after a scientist named Howard Flack who came up with the rule.

Basically, the flack parameter is all about making sure that the sound waves are perfectly spaced out and not too crowded together or too spread out. When the waves are spaced out just right, our ears can detect them better and we can hear things clearer.

So when people study sound waves or need to make sure that their sound equipment is working properly, they might talk about the flack parameter as a way to make sure they're throwing the sound waves in the best way possible.