Sound Waves

Production and Transmission of Sound

Characteristics of Sound Waves
Physical Properties of Sound
Resonance and Musical Instruments
Ultrasonic
Production and Transmission of Sound
• Sound – is produced from a source which is in a state of vibration.
The scientific study of sound is called acoustics. Sound travels at
different rates in different mediums.
• The speed of sound in air at normal atmosphere pressure and at a
temperature of 0oC is about 332 m/s or about 1090 ft/s. This means
that it takes approximately 3 seconds for sound to travel one
kilometer in air. Sound travels about 720 miles in one hour. Jet
planes fly at a speed of 700 miles/hr, which is very close to the speed
of sound.
Production and Transmission of Sound
• Sound is composed of waves of compression and rarefaction which
are detected by the ears. Sound waves do not necessarily exhibit a
special kind of motion. They simply follow an orderly pattern or
coherence of motion. Sound waves can begin either from simple
harmonic motions or from complicated motions. Sound waves are
longitudinal waves. The size of a compression indicates how much
energy the sound wave has. This means that a sound wave with a
high amplitude will have large compressions. A sound wave with a
low amplitude will have small compressions.
• Sound is produced when a vibration causes pressure variations in the
medium.
Production and Transmission of Sound
• Planes that fly at speeds greater than 700 miles/hr are said to be
supersonic. Note that the speed of sound of 332m/s holds for a
temperature of 0oC. But the hotter air becomes, the faster sound
travels.
• For every oC rise in the temperature of air, the speed of sound
increases by 0.6 m/s or 2 ft/s. For solids and liquids, the speed of
sound depends on the density and elasticity of the medium.
• Sound travels faster through the medium with greater elasticity. But
it travels slower through the medium with greater density.
Production and Transmission of Sound
• Solids are certainly denser than liquids or gases. But because its
elasticity is much greater than that of liquids and gases, sound travels
faster through it.
• The speed of sound in water is about 1.5km/s, which is about 4 times
the speed of sound in air.
• Example
On a certain day in July, when the temperature of air uniformly
dropped to 23oC, a flash of lightning was seen. Four seconds after,
thunder is heard. How far is the source of lightning and thunder?
Characteristics of Sound Waves
• Reflection of sound waves occurs when they strike a barrier.
Reflection of sound waves produce echo. For the human ear to
distinguish the original sound from the echo, the lapse of time
between the two must not be less than 1/10 of a second.
• The continuous reflection of sound causing it to be heard for a certain
length of time after it is produced is called reverberation.
• The total time during which a sound remains audible due to repeated
reflection is called reverberation time.
• When sound produced inside a room is reflected by the walls, the
reflected waves may interfere at some point within the room. If
constructive interference occurs, the sound waves are in phase, then
the sound will be heard loudly. But if destructive interference occurs,
the sound waves are out of phase, then the sound will be hardly
audible.
Characteristics of Sound Waves
• Air temperature affects the velocity of sound in air. This means that
sound travels faster in the hotter portion of the atmosphere and
slower in the colder portion. Moreover, velocity of air can also affect
the velocity of sound in air. Wind in the higher level travels faster
than that in lower level. The sound waves will travel faster in the
higher level than in the lower level. This results in the bending of
sound waves. Thus the sound waves are refracted.
• Difference in air temperature in the different levels of air will have a
similar effect on the velocity of sound, resulting in the refraction of
sound waves.
Characteristics of Sound Waves
• Diffraction is the characteristic of sound waves which, although least
perceived by humans, has interesting use for some animals. Sound
waves of long wavelength travel around small obstacles. However
sound waves of short wavelengths are diffracted less. Instead they
are reflected back or echoed from small objects. Sound waves with
shorter wavelengths have high frequencies.
Physical Properties of Sound
• Pitch is the property of sound that can be attributed to its frequency.
It is equal to the number of waves sent out per second, or the rate of
vibration of the source. The rate of vibration of the source
determines whether the pitch will be high or low. High frequency of
vibration results in high pitch.
• Pitch of a sound is the perception of highness or lowness. It depends
almost completely on the frequency of the sound wave
• Doppler effect is the change in the pitch of a moving source of sound
due to the change in frequency when there is relative motion
between the observer and the source of sound.
Physical Properties of Sound
• It depends almost completely on the frequency of the sound waves.
Sound frequency is the number of sound waves that passes through a
point in a certain amount of time.
• The hertz (Hz) is a unit to measure frequency and so pitch is
measured in hertz.
• The human ear can hear sounds of frequencies ranging from 20Hz to
20000Hz. This is called the audio frequency range. Ultrasonics are
sound waves of frequency above 20000Hz. Infrasonics are those of
frequency below 20Hz.
Physical Properties of Sound
• Intensity is the property of sound which is measured by the amount of
energy passing through a unit area per second. It is usually measured in
watts/cm. This energy is proportional to the square of the amplitude of
the sound wave. The effect of this energy on the human ear is loudness.
• Loudness is the amount of auditory impression or sensation that one gets
from a sound.
• The lowest intensity which the human ear can hear is 10-10 watts/cm2. This
is referred to as the threshold of audibility. An intensity of 104 watts/cm2 is
the threshold of feeling at which the sound becomes too loud that the ear
experiences a sensation of pain and discomfort.
Physical Properties of Sound
• The intensity level n of sound is defined as
n = 10 log I/Io
where I (expressed in watts/cm2) is the intensity of sound and Io
intensity of an arbitrary reference level.
Io = 1016 watts/cm2
The intensity level n is expressed in decibels (denoted by db)
The decibel is a smaller unit derived from the bel, the unit of intensity
named after Alexander Graham Bell who invented the telephone.
Physical Properties of Sound
• Quality or Timbre is the property of sound which distinguishes one
source of sound from another and which results from a blending of
many vibrations of superposed wave forms.
• The timbre of a sound is used to distinguish between two different
sounds that have the same pitch and loudness.
• The quality of sound depends on vibrations of wave forms. When a
body vibrates as a whole, it produces what is known as fundamentals.
A body which vibrates in parts produces what is known as overtones
or harmonies. Both the fundamentals and overtones are simple wave
forms. When these simple wave forms are superposed, complex
wave forms result, giving the property of quality to the sound.
Speed of Sound
• The speed of sound waves does not depend on the source but on the
medium through which they move. Several factors affect the speed
of sound as it travels through a medium:
1. Density Sound waves move well through dense materials.
2. Elasticity Sound waves move fast through elastic materials. The
molecules of these materials return quickly to their original
positions after a disturbance.
3. Temperature The speed of sound waves in air also depends on
the temperature of the air. Sound waves travel faster through
warm air than through cool air. The speed increases by about
0.6m/s for every 1oC increase in temperature.
Resonance and Musical Instruments

• Resonance is forced or sympathetic vibrations. Two vibrating bodies

are said to be in resonance if they vibrate with the same frequency.
• In musical instruments which produce sound by vibrating strings,
resonance is applied to produce loud tones. Resonance is similarly
set up in instruments which emit tones through vibrating rods and
membranes.
Ultrasonics

• Ultrasonic sound is sound that is beyond the range of audibility to the

human ear. The study of such sound is called ultrasonics.
• The mechanism of the human ear is such that, even at its keenest, it
can interpret as sound those waves with frequencies ranging from 20
to 20,000 vibrations per second. Sounds with frequencies below 20
vibrations per second or above 20,000 vibrations per second are
silent sounds as far as man is concerned. These comprise the domain
of ultrasonics.
Ultrasonics
• A French scientist – Paul Langevin – harnessed the echoing quality of
ultrasonic waves to work out a device that will detect underwater perils.
This work led to the invention of the sonar which sends ultrasonic waves
from a ship through the ocean.
• Liquids which are ordinarily immiscible can be emulsified by very high
frequency sound waves.
• In 1950, an ultrasonic device was patented in the US which helps blind
persons avoid obstacles. The mechanism is installed in a walking cane.
• In the field of biology, ultrasonic sounds are used to grow plants that
blossomed earlier and produced 50% more yield. Milk exposed to
ultrasonic sounds is pasteurized in a few seconds. Germs may also be killed
by this silent sound.
• A very significant breakthrough was made in the field of medicine when
ultrasonic beams were used in surgery, detecting ailments.