NOTES ON SOUND - 2022 (Edited)

SOUND :-Transmission of pressure variation through a substance by vibrations or a series of compressions and rarefactions
along a transmitting medium.
Sound is produced by a vibrating source or system.
A sound wave needs a transmitting medium for it to propagate or travel from one place to another.
A sound wave can not travel through a vacuum.
Sound travels fastest in solid , faster in liquid and fast in a gas.In a solid compressions and rarefactions are formed faster hence
larger speed of a sound wave.
speed of sound in air is approximately 330 m/s
speed of sound in water is approximately 1400 m/s
speed of sound in concrete is 5000 m/s
DETERMINING THE SPEED OF SOUND IN AIR
Firing method
 Two experimenters position themselves at each end of open ground.

 One of the experimenters should be equip with a starter pistol while the other should have a stop watch.
 The distance between them should be measured.
 The experimenter with a pistol fires it while the one with a stop watch should record the time between seeing a flash of
light from the piston and hearing the sound.
 This time interval is the time taken by the sound to travel from one end to the other.
 The experiment is repeated several times and the average is calculated.
 The speed of sound is then calculated as follows;
V=s/t where v=speed of sound in m/s

s=distance in m
t=average time interval between seeing the flash of light and hearing the sound in
seconds
NB:
 the experiment is repeated in reverse direction to reduce the effect of wind.
 Averaging time improves accuracy and reduces reaction time error.
 If the wind blows in the direction of sound, the sound takes a shorter time to travel through the distance
between the experimenters hence the speed increases.
 However, if the wind blows against sound, the sound takes a longer time between the experimenters and the
speed decreases.
Echoes
These are reflected sound waves. Some waves can be reflected from a hard and flat surface eg, walls,tunnels,valleys , hills, etc.it
has the same frequency as and wavelength as the source. The reflection of sound waves obeys the same law as the reflection of
light, for echoes to be heard separately from the original sound the reflecting surface of the sound should be atleast 17m from the
source of sound. If the reflecting surface is closer to the source of sound, the echo arrives before the original sound is dead or
overlaps with it. The original sound then seems to be prolonged, this effect is known as reverberations. In concert halls there are
sound absorbing panels on the walls and ceilings to avoid reverberations as this makes speech to be distorted.
Prepared and compiled by mr Fani – not to be duplicated without my permission
Page 1
Determining the speed of sound by echo sounding
In this case the two experimenters are equiped with a stop watch and the other with two wooden blocks and stand a known
distance in front of a high wall.
 Measure the distance S , from the experimenter to the reflecting surface(wall)
 Clap the blocks and wait for the echo to arrive.
 Clap repeatedly until each clap coincide with the echo of the previous clap.
 Measure the time t, taken by the sound wave to travel from source (clapping blocks) to reflecting surface (the wall) and
back to the ear of the experimenter.
 The time interval between the two successive claps is equal the time taken by sound wave to travel twice the distance
between the experimenters and the reflecting surface.
 The speed of sound in air is then give by equation ; V = n2S/t where n is the number of claps
Organism Range of audible frequency in Hz
Man(young person) 20 to 20 000
dog Up to 50 000
bats 20 000 to 250 000
ULTRASOUND OR ULTRA SONIC SOUND: sound waves with frequencies greater than upper human hearing limit or 20 000
Hz.
USES OF ULTRASONIC WAVES
 Bats- use it for navigation(echo-location)
 Cleaning of metals and street lamp covers and to remove tartar in teeth by dentists
 In mining to search oil underground(echo sounding)
 Ships- echo sounding to estimate the depth of the sea and detect obstacles (sonar)
 Medicine- to monitor the development of an embryo inside the mother’s womb.
 Manufacturing industries- to detect holes on glass and steel.
 Dog training
NOISE POLLUSION
Noise is an unwanted sound or Sound wave formed from a mixture of sound waves of random or irregular frequencies.
Problems caused by noise
 Cause loss of concentration

 Causes tiredness
 Partial or permanent deafness
 Irritation
HOW TO REDUCE NOISE POLLUSION
 Design quitter or silent engines

 Installing rubber pads to reduce vibrations on machines
 Use sound absorbing materials
Page 2
 Use ear muffs when using noisy machines
 Relocate to quitter places or far away from industrial area
 Mount silencers on car exhausts and guns
PROPERTIES OF MUSICAL NOTES
A musical note or tone is a sound of regular or a specific frequency given by a musical instrument.Musical notes have three
properties which can easily be distinguished from each other.
1. PITCH
How high or low a note of a sound wave is.The pitch of the musical note depends on the frequency of sound wave which in
turn depends on the frequency of the vibrating source of sound. The higher the frequency , the higher the pitch and the lower
the frequency , the lower the pitch. NOTE: sound wave of a specific frequency.
2. LOUDNESS(intensity)
How loud or quiet or soft a note of a sound wave is.The loudness of a sound note depends on the amplitude. When the
amplitude of the note is larger the note becomes louder and when it is smaller the note has a quiet sound.Amplitude depends
on the amount of energy used to produce the sound.
3. QUALITY(timbre)
A sound note sounds differently when played on different musical instruments. In other words, musical notes have different
quality or timbre. This is so because most instruments do not produce pure notes except the tuning fork and signal generator.
A musical sound consists of several or different frequencies which are blended together. The strongest audible frequency
present is known as the fundamental frequency. There is the frequency which gives the pitch of a note, the other weaker
frequencies are present and are known as overtones (harmonics). It is the overtones which are used to distinguish the
musical sound from different instruments. It is the number of frequencies and relative amplitude of these overtones which
give each sound its particular quality. Overtones are usually exact multiples of fundamental frequencies, thus if the
fundamental frequency is f, then the overtones have a frequency of 2f , 3f ,5f etc.
Page 3

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SOUND :-Transmission of pressure variation through a substance by vibrations or a series of compressions and rarefactions

along a transmitting medium.

Sound is produced by a vibrating source or system.

A sound wave can not travel through a vacuum.

speed of sound in air is approximately 330 m/s

speed of sound in water is approximately 1400 m/s

speed of sound in concrete is 5000 m/s

DETERMINING THE SPEED OF SOUND IN AIR

 Two experimenters position themselves at each end of open ground.

V=s/t where v=speed of sound in m/s

Prepared and compiled by mr Fani – not to be duplicated without my permission

 Measure the distance S , from the experimenter to the reflecting surface(wall)

 Clap the blocks and wait for the echo to arrive.

Organism Range of audible frequency in Hz

Man(young person) 20 to 20 000

bats 20 000 to 250 000

Problems caused by noise

 Cause loss of concentration

 Design quitter or silent engines

Prepared and compiled by mr Fani – not to be duplicated without my permission

PROPERTIES OF MUSICAL NOTES

Prepared and compiled by mr Fani – not to be duplicated without my permission

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