Focusing sound in rooms intended for listening to music or speech is an acoustic defect. Design recommendations provide remedial steps to effectively prevent this. However, there is a category of objects of high historical or architectural value in which the sound focus correction is limited or even abandoned. This also applies to indoor or outdoor concert shells, installations for teaching and acoustic presentations, etc. The...

In the paper, caustics are discussed as ordered forms of focus broadening occurring in concave mirrors. Presented are examples of caustics formed in natural conditions and application of the phenomenon in different fields of science and technology. Against this factual background, the possibility to observe caustics in rooms is pointed out. Special emphasis is put on large rooms of historic character, as such interiors frequently...

In the paper, caustics are discussed as ordered forms of focus broadening occurring in concave mirrors. An example of caustics created by the reflection of the light from the concave mirror is shown. Against this background, the possibility to observe caustics in rooms is pointed out. Special emphasis is put on large rooms of historic character, as such interiors frequently include acoustic mirrors in the form of arched vaults...

After introducing Leonardo da Vinci’s (LdV) predecessors in the field of light propagation research, his drawings on the topic of reflecting light by a spherical mirror are analysed. The discovery of LdV is presented, according to which, at an infinitely distant source of rays, a small fragment of the canopy is enough to generate a focus, while the rest of the mirror forms a caustic for which LdV did not indicate an application....

This work presents the procedures for monitoring volatile organic compounds during treatment of industrial effluents. The investigation was carried out for a specific effluent—caustic effluent from bitumen production. The developed procedures enable more detailed control of the effectiveness of wastewater treatment than standard procedures. Caustic effluents from bitumen production have a complex physicochemical form and consist...