cycles and beats

[David Forman]

No, they are not the same
Cycles per second is how many times the air vibrates back and forth
per second to create a certain pitch. Beats per second is the
difference in the rate of two sound's cycles per second. Example, one
string is vibrating at 440 cycles per second, and another string is
vibrating at 442 cycles per second. This results in 2 beats per
second.
Dave