Sound -Notes

Introduction
 → The sensation felt by our ears is called sound.
 → Sound is a form of energy which makes us hear.
 → Law of conservation of energy is also applicable to sound.
 → Sound travels in form of wave.

Production of Sound

 Sound is produced when object vibrates or sound is produced by vibrating

objects.

 Example: Sound of our voice is produced by vibration of two vocal cords

in

our throat.

• Sound of a drum or tabla is produced by vibration of its membrane

when struck.

Prove that sound is a form of energy

The Ping Pong Ball Experiment (Energy Transfer)

This demonstrates that vibrating air molecules (sound waves) possess

enough energy to move solid objects.

Apparatus: Tuning fork, rubber mallet, a small ping pong ball suspended by
a thread.

Procedure:

1. Suspend the ping pong ball so it hangs still.

2. Strike the tuning fork.

 3. Bring the vibrating tuning fork close to the ball, making it lightly
touch the ball.

Observation: The ping pong ball bounces or moves away from the tuning
fork, even though the fork only barely touches it.

Conclusion: The kinetic energy of the vibrating prongs is transferred to the

ball through the air, showing that sound carries energy.

• Sound can be produced by following methods:

(i) By vibrating string (sitar)

(ii) By vibrating air (flute)

(iii) By vibrating membrane (table, drum)

(iv) By vibrating plates (bicycle bell)

(v) By friction in objects

(vi) By scratching or scrubbing the objects etc.

Propagation of Sound
 The substance through which sound travels is called a medium.
 The medium may be solid, liquid or gas.
 When an object vibrates, then the air particles around it also start
vibrating in

the same way and displaced from their stable position.

 → These vibrating air particles exert a force on nearby air particles so they
are also

displaced from their rest position and start to vibrate.

 → This process continues in the medium till sound reaches our ears.
 → The disturbance produced by sound travels through the medium (not
the

particles of the medium).

 → Wave is a disturbance which travels through a medium and carries

[Link] sound travels in wave form known as mechanical waves.
 Sound waves are characterized by the motion of particles in the medium
and are called mechanical waves.
 When a body vibrates then it compresses the air surrounding it and form
an area of

high density called compression (C) .

→ Compression is the part of wave in which particles of the medium are

closer to

one another forming high pressure.

→ This compression moves away from the vibrating body.

• When vibrating body vibrates back a area of low pressure is formed

called rarefaction (R) .

→ Rarefaction is the area of wave in which particles of the medium are

further

apart from one another forming a low pressure or low-density area.

→ When body vibrates back and forth, a series of compression and

rarefaction is

formed in air resulting in sound waves.

→ Propogation of sound wave is propagation of density change.

Longitudinal wave

Transverse wave

Characteristics of Sound Wave

 The characteristics of sound waves are : wavelength, frequency,

amplitude, time

period and velocity.

 When a wave travel in air the density and pressure of air changes from
their

mean position.
 Compression is shown by crest while rarefaction is shown by trough.
 Compression is the region of maximum density or pressure.
 Rarefaction is the region of minimum density or pressure.

Wavelength
 In sound waves the combined length of a compression and an adjacent

rarefaction is called its wavelength.

 The distance between the centre s of two consecutive compressions or

two

consecutive rarefactions is also called wavelength.

 It is denoted by the Greek letter lamda (λ). Its SI unit is metre.

Frequency
 No. of complete waves produced in one second or number of vibrations
per second is called frequency.
 Number of compressions or rarefactions passed in one second is also
frequency.
 Frequency of waves is same as the frequency of the vibrating body which
produces the wave.
 The SI unit of frequency is hertz (Hz). The symbol o f frequency is v (nu).
 1 Hertz: One Hz is equal to 1 vibration per second.
 Bigger unit of frequency is kilohertz kHz = 1000 Hz.

Time Period
 Time taken to complete one vibration is called time period.
 Time required to pass two consecutive compressions or rarefactions
through apoint is called time period.
 SI unit of time period is second (s). Time period is denoted by T.
 The frequency of a wave is the reciprocal of the time period.
 Frequency, v = 1/T

Amplitude
 The maximum displacement of the particle of the medium from their
original undisturbed position (mean position) is called amplitude of the
wave.
 Amplitude is denoted by A, and its SI unit is metre (m).
 Sound has characteristics like pitch and loudness and timbre.
Pitch: The pitch of sound depends on the frequency of sound (vibration).It
is directly proportional to its frequency. Greater the frequency, higher is
the pitch and lesser the frequency, lower is the pitch.

 A woman’s voice is shrill having a high pitch while a man’s voice is flat
havin g

low pitch.

 High pitch sound has large number of compressions and rarefactions

passing a

fixed point per unit time.

 Loudness: The loudness depends on the amplitude of the sound wave.
Loudness is the measure of the sound energy reaching the ear per sec.
Greater the amplitude of sound wave, greater is the energy, louder the
sound; short is the amplitude, less is the energy, soft is the sound.
Loudness is measured in decibel ‘dB’.

 Quality or Timbre: The timbre of a sound depends on the shape of

sound wave

produced by it. It is the characteristic of musical sound. It helps us to

distinguish between two sounds of same pitch & loudness.

 Sound of single (same) frequency is called tone while a mixture of

different

frequencies is called note.

 Noise is unpleasant to hear while music is pleasant to hear and it is of

good

quality.
Velocity
 The distance travelled by a wave in one second is called velocity of the
wave.
 Its SI unit is metre per second (ms-1).

Velocity = Distance travelled/Time taken

v = λ/T

(λ is the wavelength of the waves travelled in one time time period T)

v = λv (1/T = v)

Wave equation

Velocity = Frequency × wavelength

Wavelength=velocity/frequency

Speed of Sound in Various Mediums

 → Speed of sound depends on the nature of material through which it

travels. It is slowest in gases, faster in liquids and fastest in solids.
 → Speed of sound increases with the rise in temperature.
 → Speed of sound increases as humidity of air increases.
 → Speed of light is faster than speed of sound.
 → In air, speed of sound is 344 ms-1 at 22ºC.

Difference between intensity and loudness of sound

Reflection of Sound

Like light, sound also bounce back when it falls on a hard surface. It is called

reflection of sound.
The laws of reflection of sound

(i) The incident sound wave, the reflected sound wave and normal at the
point of

incidence lies in the same plane.

(ii) Angle of reflection of sound is always equal to the angle of incidenc e of

sound.

Echo

• The repetition of sound caused by the reflection of sound waves is called

an echo.
We can hear echo when there is a time gap of 0.1 second in original sound
and

echo (reflected sound).

→ Echo is produced when sound reflected from a hard surface (i.e. brick wall,

mountain etc.) as soft surface tends to absorb sound.

Calculate Minimum distance to hear an echo

Speed = Distance/Time

Here, Speed of sound in air = 344 m/s at 22ºC

Time = 0.1 second

344 = Distance/0.1 sec

Distance = 344 × 0.1 = 34.4 m

So, distance between reflecting surface and audience = 34.4/2 = 17.2m (at
22ºC).

 Rolling of thunder is due to multiple reflection of sound of thunder from a

number of reflecting surfaces such as clouds and the earth.

Reverberation:

Reverberation is the persistence of sound in an enclosed space caused by

multiple, rapid reflections off surfaces like walls and ceilings after the source
has stopped.
→ If reverberation is too long, sound becomes blurred, distorted and
confusing due

to overlapping of different sound.

Methods to reduce reverberation in big halls or auditoriums

→ Panels made of felt or compressed fibre board are put on walls and
ceiling to

absorb sound.

→ Heavy curtains are put on doors and windows.

→ Carpets are put on the floor.

→ Seats are made of material having sound absorbing properties.

Applications of Reflection of Sound

(i) Megaphone, loudspeakers, bulb horns and trumpets, shehnai etc. are
designed to

send sound in a particular direction without spreading all around.

All these instruments have funnel tube which reflects sound waves
repeatedly

towards audience. In this amplitude of sound waves adds up to increase

loudness

of sound.

(ii) Stethoscope: It is a medical instrument used for listening the sounds

produced

in human body main ly in heart and lungs. The sound of the heartbeats
reaches the

doctor’s ears by the multiple reflection of the sound waves in the rubber tube
of
stethoscope.

(iii) Sound Board: In big halls or auditoriums sound is absorbed by walls,

ceiling,

seats etc. So a curved board (sound board) is placed behind the speakers so
that his

speech can be heard easily by audiences. The soundboard works on the

multiple

reflection of sound.

(iv) The ceiling of concert halls are made curved, so that sound after
reflection from ceiling, reaches all the parts of the hall.

Range of Hearing

(i) Range of hearing in humans is 20 Hz to 20000 Hz(20kHz).

(ii) The sounds of frequencies lower than 20 Hz are known as ‘infra sonic
sounds ’.

→ A vibrating simple pendulum produces infrasonic sounds.

→ Rhinoceroses communicate each other using frequencies as low as 5
Hz.
→ Elephants and whales produce infrasonic waves.
→ Earthquakes produce infrasonic waves (before shock waves) which
some animals can hear and get disturbed.

(iii) The sounds of frequencies higher than 20 KHz are known as ‘ultrasonic

waves.
→ Dogs, porpoises, dolphins, bats and rats can hear ultrasonic sounds.

→ Bats and rats can produce ultrasonic sounds.

Hearing Aid
→ It is battery operated electronic device used by persons who are hard of
hearing.
→ Microphone convert sound into electrical signals, than those are amplified
by

amplifier. Amplified signals are send to the speaker of hearing aid. The
speake r

converts the amplified signal to sound and sends to ear for clear hearing.

Applications of Ultrasound

(i) It is used to detect cracks in metal blocks in industries without damaging

them.

(ii) It is used in industries to clean ‘hard to reach’ parts of objects such as

spiral

tubes, odd shaped machines etc.

(iii) It is used to investigate the internal organs of human body such as liver,
gall

bladder, kidneys, uterus and heart.

(iv) Ecocardiography: These waves are used to reflect the action of heart and
its

images are formed. This technique is called echocardiography.

(v) Ultrasonography: The technique of obtaining pictures of internal organs of

the

body by using echoes of ultrasound waves is called ultrasonography.

(vi) Ultrasound is used to split tin y stones in kidneys into fine grains.