Near and far field

Imagine you have a toy car, and you want to know how far away it can move. When you’re holding the car right in front of your face, you can move it just a little bit, without having to move your hand very far away from your body. That’s called the near field.

But when you want the car to move farther, you have to stretch your arm out and move your hand away from your body. That’s called the far field.

It’s the same with sound waves, which are like vibrations that travel through the air. When you’re close to the sound source, like if you’re listening to someone talking right in front of you, that’s the near field. You can hear all the details of their voice, like the tone and inflection, because the sound waves are strong and clear.

But if you’re far away from the person talking, like if you’re in another room, that’s the far field. The sound waves have to travel farther, and they get weaker as they go. So you might not be able to hear all the details of their voice, or it might be harder to understand what they’re saying.

In general, the near field is the area close to the sound source, where the sound waves are strong and easy to hear, while the far field is the area farther away, where the sound waves are weaker and harder to hear.