Question

If the frequencies of two component waves are 24Hz and 20Hz, they should produce beats per second

Answer 1

When two waves combine, they produce two new waves.

The frequencies of the two new waves are

      (the sum of the two original frequencies)
and
      (the difference of the two original frequencies) .

The new waves are called the 'beats'.

If the frequencies of the two original waves are 24 Hz and 20 Hz,
then the frequencies of the beats are

         (24 + 20)  =  44 Hz
and
         (24 - 20)   =    4 Hz .

These are called the 'beat frequencies'.

Answer 2

Answer:

4 beats per second

Explanation:

When two waves of slightly different frequencies overlap, they produce an interference pattern called beat, which consists in a periodic oscillation whose frequency is called beat frequency.

The beat frequency is equal to the absolute value of the difference between the frequencies of the two original waves:

$f_{beat}=|f_1 -f_2|$

In this problem, the frequencies of the two waves are:

$f_1 = 24 Hz\\f_2 = 20 Hz$

So, the beat frequency is

$f_{beat}=|20 Hz-24 Hz|=4 Hz$

which corresponds to 4 beats per second.