Sound Waves

Sound Waves
Sound travels on a longitudinal wave:
Notice that sound travels in a spiral form like a slingky

Imagine what happens when you drop a stone into a
pool of water. Waves ripple out from the spot where
the stone entered the water. The way waves move
across the water is similar to how sound waves
travel through the air.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
Making Sound Waves

• Vibrations transfer
energy to nearby air
particles, producing
sound waves in air.
• Every sound you
hear is caused by
something vibrating.
For example, when you talk, tissues in your
throat vibrate in different ways to form sounds.
When you speak or shout, your vocal chords vibrate .
These vibrations travel in all directions through the
air as waves. When the waves reach our ears, they
make our eardrums vibrate too, so we can hear the
words.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
Sound Waves are

Compressional Waves
• Sound waves produced by a vibrating object
are compressional waves.
• A vibrating drum head
produces a sound wave.
• The drum head produces
a compression each time
it moves upward and a
rarefaction each time it
moves downward.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
2
Sound Waves are
Compressional Waves
• Sound waves can only travel through matter.
• The energy carried by a sound wave is

transferred by the collisions between the
particles in the material the wave is
traveling in.
Sound waves travel on a MEDIUM:
Any SOLID, LIQUID OR GAS
Sound travels by pushing the particles of a substance.

The particles push into the particles next to them, and
then return to their original position. And the sound
continues to travel in this form until it reaches your
ear!
Which state of substance would
sound travel through faster?
WHY?
Mediums:
• Sound travels through a solid faster, than through
a liquid, which is faster, than through a gas.
– Our ears are custom to hear sound through a
gas…
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
The Speed of Sound

• The speed of sound
through a material
increases as the
temperature of the
material increases.
• The effect of
temperature is
greatest in gases.
In movies and on TV, you'll sometimes see and hear
things exploding in outer space -- alien spacecraft
and things like that.
Is that really possible knowing what we

know about sound?

Compressions and Rarefractions:
Compressions: area of sound waves where
molecules are closer together (E)
Rarefraction: area of sound where
molecules are further apart (B)
Wavelength:
Wavelength: distance from end of
compression to the end of the next
compression (A)
Air
molecule
Rarefaction (decreased air

Stereo density)
Speaker
Compression (increased air

density)
wavelength
Frequency:
Frequency: the number of waves produced
per second (C)
Two other properties that affect sound
energy:
1.Pitch
2.Intensity
PITCH
Pitch is the rate at which the vibrations
are produced.
The higher the frequency, the higher the
pitch.
Which picture above would have the lowest pitch? Highest pitch?
The more waves per second (or
the higher the frequency), the
higher the pitch!
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
Frequency and Pitch

• The frequency of sound waves is determined
by the frequency of the vibrations that
produce the sound.
• People are usually able to hear sounds with
frequencies between about 20 Hz and
20,000 Hz.
• Pitch is the human perception of the
frequency sound.
• Sounds with low frequencies have low pitch
and sounds with high frequencies have high
pitch.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
Intensity
• The intensity of sound waves is related to

the amplitude.
• Sound with a greater amplitude also has a

greater intensity.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
Intensity
• The amount of energy that a wave carries past
a certain area each second is the intensity of
the sound.
• This figure shows
how the intensity of
sound from the
cymbals decreases
with distance.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
The Loudness of Sound
• What makes a sound loud or soft?
• The difference is the amount of energy.
• Loud sounds have more energy than

soft sounds.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
The Decibel Scale and Loudness

• The intensity
of sound
waves is
measured in
units of
decibels (dB).
• The softest sound a person can hear has an
intensity of 0 dB.
• Sound with intensities of about 120 dB or
higher are painful to people.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
The Decibel Scale and Loudness

• Loudness is the human perception of the
intensity of sound waves.
• Each increase of 10 dB in intensity
multiplies the energy of the sound waves
ten times.
• Most people perceive this as a doubling
of the loudness of the sound.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
2
Hearing and the Ear
• The ear is a complex organ that can detect a
wide range of sounds.
• The ear can be divided into three parts—the

outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
Hearing and the Ear

Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
The Reflection of Sound
• Echoes are sounds that reflect off surfaces.
• Repeated echoes are called reverberation.

Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
2
• The reflection of sound can be used to locate
or identify objects.
• Echolocation is the process of locating objects

by bounding sounds off them.
Sound
Sound Waves
Waves
2
• Some animals emit short, high frequency
sound waves toward a certain area.
• By interpreting the
reflected waves, the
animals can locate
and determine
properties of other
animals.
• Light travels much faster than sound. For
example:
1) Thunder and lightning
start at the same time,
but we will see the
lightning first.
2) When a starting pistol

is fired, we see the
smoke first and then
hear the bang.
• Light travels VERY FAST – about 300,000
kilometers per second or 186,000 miles per
second.
At this speed light

could travel the
equivalent of 8 times
around the world in
one second!
Section
Section Check
Check
2
Question 1
Every sound you hear is caused by something
that is _______.
A. compressing
B. loud
C. moving
D. vibrating
Section
Section Check
Check
2
Answer
The answer is D. The sound of your voice is
caused by vibrations in your vocal chords.
Section
Section Check
Check
2
Question 2
Sound waves travel
faster through
_______ than they
do through water.
A. gases
B. liquids
C. plasma
D. solids
Section
Section Check
Check
2
Answer
The answer is D. This
table shows that sound
waves travel faster
through solids than
they travel through
water.
Section
Section Check
Check
2
Question 3
Each increase of 10 dB in intensity multiplies
the energy of a sound wave by _______.
A. 10
B. 100
C. 1,000
D. 10,000
Section
Section Check
Check
2
Answer
The answer is A. Most people perceive this as
a doubling of the loudness of the sound.

Sound Waves

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Sound Waves

Sound travels on a longitudinal wave:

Notice that sound travels in a spiral form like a slingky

Making Sound Waves

Sound Waves are

• Sound waves can only travel through matter.

• The energy carried by a sound wave is

Sound travels by pushing the particles of a substance.

The Speed of Sound

Is that really possible knowing what we

Rarefaction (decreased air

Compression (increased air

Frequency and Pitch

• The intensity of sound waves is related to

• Sound with a greater amplitude also has a

The Loudness of Sound

• What makes a sound loud or soft?

• The difference is the amount of energy.

• Loud sounds have more energy than

The Decibel Scale and Loudness

The Decibel Scale and Loudness

• The ear can be divided into three parts—the

Hearing and the Ear

The Reflection of Sound

• Echoes are sounds that reflect off surfaces.

• Repeated echoes are called reverberation.

• Echolocation is the process of locating objects

2) When a starting pistol

At this speed light

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