Sound is a form of energy which produces a sensation of hearing in

our ears. Some sources of sound are: tuning fork, stringed instrument,
drum, bell etc.
Production of Sound:
 When any object vibrates mechanically, it produces sound.
 If the frequency of vibration lies in the audible range (20Hz-
20KHz), then we can hear it.
 As a body vibrates, it pushes the air near its surface, thereby
producing compression (high density region) & rarefaction (low
density region). This creates a pressure wave.
 When this pressure wave reaches the ear, it presses the eardrum
which begins to vibrate, thus producing the sensation of hearing.
Propagation of Sound:
 The matter or substance through which sound is transmitted is
called medium. It can be solid, liquid or gas.
 When any object vibrate, the particle of the medium around it also
vibrates. Here the particle do not travel from vibrating object to the
ear. In this case the particle of the medium in contact with the
vibrating object is first displaced from its equilibrium position.
 It then exerts a force on the adjacent particle. As a result the
adjacent particle gets displaced from its position of rest and after
displacing the adjacent particle comes back to its original position.
 This process continues in the medium, till the sound reaches to ear.
This disturbance created by sound is called wave.
Wave:
A wave is a disturbance in a medium due to repeated periodic motion of
particles about their mean position such that the disturbance is handed
over from one particle to the other without the actual motion of the
medium. Waves are of 2 types: Mechanical wave & Electromagnetic
wave.
 Mechanical waves are again classified into 2 types: Transverse
wave & Longitudinal wave
Transverse Wave:
 If the particles of the medium vibrate perpendicular to the direction
of propagation of the wave, then the wave is called a transverse
wave.
  A transverse wave travels in the
form of crest & trough.
 Example: Radio wave, light waves,
microwaves etc.
 Transverse waves can’t be
transmitted inside liquid & gases.
This is because, inside liquid &
gases no restoring force is present.
Longitudinal Wave:
 If the particles of the medium vibrate parallel to the direction of the
propagation of the wave, then the wave is called longitudinal wave.
Example- Sound waves in air & Water waves in a slinky etc.
 A longitudinal wave
travels in terms of
compressions &
rarefactions.
Compression: These are the
region in a medium where
density is high i.e. the
distance between any 2
particles is less than the
normal distance.
Rarefaction: These are the
regions in a medium where
density is low i.e. the distance
between any 2 consecutive
particles is more than the
normal distance.
Sound needs a medium to travel:
 Sound is a mechanical wave & travels
in a medium like air, water, steel etc.
 Sound can’t travel in vacuum. (Proved
by Bell jar experiment)
 Terms related to Sound Waves:
1. Time period (T): It is defined as the time taken by the particle to
complete one vibration. It is denoted by T.
2. Frequency( f )- It is defined as the no. of cycles completed per
sec. 1 cycle= 1 complete wave.
3. Wavelength(λ)- It is the distance between 2 consecutive crest or
troughs or 2 consecutive compressions or rarefactions.
Relation between velocity, wavelength & frequency
Velocity =
Velocity =
Velocity =
But we know, frequency =
So velocity = wavelength
Or, v= λ f

4. Intensity-it is defined as the amount of sound energy passing per

unit time per unit area around that point in a direction
perpendicular to the area.
5. Loudness-Loudness is the degree of sensation of sound produced.
Loudness of sound is determined by its amplitude.
6. Pitch or shrillness-pitch is a sensation, which determines the
shrillness of [Link] is used to distinguish between 2 different
sound.
7. Quality or timber- It is that characteristics which enables us to
distinguish one sound from another having same pitch or loudness.
Sound which is more pleasant to hear is said to be of a rich quality
Noise is unpleasant to hear so it has poor quality.A sound of
single frequency is called as a tone, but that of the mixture of
several frequencies is called a note.

Speed of sound in different media

Sound propagates in a medium with a finite speed. Speed of sound depends
upon the medium in which it travels and also it depends upon the
temperature.
Sound travels faster in solid, because in case of solid the transfer of energy
from one particle to another particle takes place in less time.
In case of liquid the distance between the particles is large as compared to
solid .so the transfer of energy among the liquid particles takes more time as
compared to solid. Hence the speed of sound is less in liquid as compared to
liquid.
In case of gases the distance between the particles is larger as compared to
solid and liquid .so the transfer of energy is slower. Hence the speed of
sound is less in gases as compared to solid and liquid.

Reflection of sound
When sound waves strike a surface ,t hen it
return back into the same medium. this
phenomenon is called refection of sound.
Laws of Reflection
The laws of reflection are:
(i) Angle of incidence is equal to the angle
of reflection.
(ii) The incident wave, the reflected wave and the normal all lie in the
same plane.
Echo
Echo is a repetition of sound due to the reflection of original sound by a
large and hard obstacle.
The conditions for production of echo are:
 The time gap between the original sound and reflected sound should
be more than 0.1s, because our brain cannot recognize two sounds
having the time gap less than 0.1s.
 Speed of sound in air =344 m/s
Distance travelled by sound in 0.1s =344 × 0.1 =34.4 m
Minimum distance between the source and the sound = = 17.2 m
So the echo is heard, only if the minimum distance between the source
and the obstacle is 17m.
 For echo the obstacle must be rigid and it should be large in size.
Multiple Echoes
When a sound wave is reflected many times by an obstacle , multiple
echoes are produced.
 Reverberation
The persistence of sound after its production is stopped ,is called
reverberation.
For eg. The sound produced in a big hall ,its wave reflect from the wall and
travel back & forth .Due to this the energy does not reduce and sound
persists.
Excessive reverberation makes the speech of a person indistinct. To
overcome this problem, sound absorbent materials, such as curtains, plant
fibre, compressed fireboard, carpets, etc. are used in the auditorium
Applications of multiple refection of sound
(i) Speaking tubes: in this we are using a tube shaped structure so that sound
wave will move in particular direction & there is no loss of energy in
other direction and they can travel a large distance. e.g. megaphones
,horns etc.
(ii) Stethoscope: it is used by doctors to listen to the sound produced in the
human body. In a Stethoscope sound reaches the ear after multiple
reflections.
(iii) Ceiling of halls: The Ceiling of concert hall concert halls ,conference
halls and cinema halls are curved so that sound after reflection reaches all
the corners of the hall.

Range of Hearing or Audible Range

The human ear can hear the sound between frequencies of 20 Hz to

20,000 Hz. Thus, audible range or range of hearing is between 20 Hz to
20,000 Hz; for human beings.
Infrasonic or Infrasound : Sound, below the frequency of 20Hz is
called infrasonic or infrasound. Infrasound is produced because of very
slow vibration. For example; simple pendulum produces sound below
20Hz. Human being cannot hear infrasound as their ears are not adapted
to hear the sound of such [Link] animals; such as whale, elephant,
rhinoceros, etc. can produce and hear sound having frequencies below
20 Hz.

Ultrasound or ultrasonic sound:- Sound, above the frequency of

20000 Hz is called ultrasound. Humans cannot hear the ultrasonic sound.
However, many animals such as dogs, cat, bat, monkey, deer, etc. can
hear ultrasound.

Bats catch their prey by producing ultrasound. Bat produces ultrasound

and detects the reflected sound waves coming from any obstacle; such as
a prey. By detecting the reflection of ultrasound, bat understands the
position and type of prey or of any obstacle in the way. Some aquatic
animals, such as dolphin, also use ultrasound to catch their prey.
Use of Ultrasound
Ultrasound is sound waves of high frequency. Because of high
frequency, ultrasound is associated with more energy and can penetrate
upto a large extent. This characteristic of ultrasound makes it very useful
for many purposes. Some of its uses are given here:
 Communication: it can be used for under water communication
and it can also be used to find out the depth of the sea with the help
of SONAR.
 Industrial uses:
 it can be used for cleaning the hidden parts of an instrument
known as ultrasonic cleaning. First of all the instrument will
be dipped in a liquid and then ultrasonic waves will be
passed through it .this wave force the dirt and impurities to
come out of the instrument.
 It can also be used for welding plastic. when 2 plastics are
pressed with each other and in between then the ultrasonic
waves is passed through ,heat will be produced and binds the
plastics.
 Ultrasounds are used to detect the cracks in the metals.
metallic structures are used to construct big structures like
buildings, bridges, machines etc. So crack may reduce the
 strength of the structure. When ultrasound waves are passed
through these metals, if any defect will be there ,the
ultrasound will return back.
 Medical uses
Ultrasonic sounds are used for diagnosis of diseases. When
ultrasound is allowed to fall through different parts of the body like
bone ,fat, muscles, then these waves are reflected back by the parts
of the body. The varying echoes are recorded foe analyzing that part
of body.

SONAR:
The full form of SONAR is Sound Navigation And Ranging. This is
a device which is used to measure depth of sea bed, locate scraps,
wrecks, submarines of enemies, etc. in the water by producing
ultrasound. It is fitted over ships and submarines.

Ultrasonic sound waves are produced by SONAR and when these

waves return after reflection from anything in water, they are
analyzed with the help of computer. The shape and position of
objects under sea and ocean is detected on the basis of speed and
nature of reflected ultrasound waves.
Let t = time taken by the ultrasonic wave to go from the transmitter
to the sea bed and to come back
V= speed of the ultrasonic sound wave
So time taken by the waves to move from transmitter to bottom of
sea =
So
depth
of
the
sea
(d )=
v×
 Human Ear
The human ear can be divided into three main parts, viz. external ear,
middle ear and internal ear.
External Ear: The external ear is outside the body and is also called
pinna. It extends into the ear canal.
Middle Ear: The middle ear is composed of the ear drum or tympanum
and the bone ossicles. There are three bone ossicles, viz. the hammer,
the anvil and the strirrup.
Internal Ear: The internal ear is composed of a cochlea and three semi-
circular canals. The cochlea makes the hearing apparatus and the
auditory nerve from it goes to the brain.
Working of Human Ear: The external ear catches sound waves and
channelizes them to the ear drum, via the ear canal. During compression,
the pressure increases outside the ear drum which forces the eardrum to
move inwards. During rarefaction, the pressure decreases outside the ear
drum which forces the eardrum to move outwards. Thus, a vibration is
produced in the eardrum. Further, the three bones amplify the sound
wave, by vibrating in turns. In the inner ear, the vibrations are converted
into electrical signals. These signals are transmitted by the auditory
nerve to the brain. Finally, the brain interprets those signals as sound.