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PitchandFrequency
PitchandFrequency
IntensityandtheDecibelScale
TheSpeedofSound
TheHumanEar

Asoundwave,likeanyotherwave,isintroducedintoamediumbyavibratingobject.Thevibrating
objectisthesourceofthedisturbancethatmovesthroughthemedium.Thevibratingobject
thatcreatesthedisturbancecouldbethevocalcordsofaperson,thevibrating
stringandsoundboardofaguitarorviolin,thevibratingtinesofatuningfork,
orthevibratingdiaphragmofaradiospeaker.Regardlessofwhatvibrating
objectiscreatingthesoundwave,theparticlesofthemediumthroughwhich
thesoundmovesisvibratinginabackandforthmotionatagivenfrequency.Thefrequencyofa
wavereferstohowoftentheparticlesofthemediumvibratewhenawavepassesthroughthemedium.
Thefrequencyofawaveismeasuredasthenumberofcompletebackandforthvibrationsofaparticle
ofthemediumperunitoftime.Ifaparticleofairundergoes1000longitudinalvibrationsin2seconds,
thenthefrequencyofthewavewouldbe500vibrationspersecond.Acommonlyusedunit
forfrequencyistheHertz(abbreviatedHz),where
1Hertz=1vibration/second
Asasoundwavemovesthroughamedium,eachparticleofthemediumvibratesatthe
samefrequency.Thisissensiblesinceeachparticlevibratesduetothemotionofitsnearestneighbor.
Thefirstparticleofthemediumbeginsvibrating,atsay500Hz,andbeginstosetthesecondparticle
intovibrationalmotionatthesamefrequencyof500Hz.Thesecondparticlebeginsvibratingat500Hz
andthussetsthethirdparticleofthemediumintovibrationalmotionat500Hz.Theprocesscontinues
throughoutthemediumeachparticlevibratesatthesamefrequency.Andofcoursethefrequencyat
whicheachparticlevibratesisthesameasthefrequencyoftheoriginalsourceofthesoundwave.
Subsequently,aguitarstringvibratingat500Hzwillsettheairparticlesintheroomvibratingatthe
samefrequencyof500Hz,whichcarriesasound signal
totheearofalistener,whichisdetectedasa
500Hzsoundwave.
Thebackandforthvibrationalmotionoftheparticlesofthemediumwouldnotbetheonlyobservable
phenomenonoccurringatagivenfrequency.Sinceasoundwaveisapressurewave,adetectorcould
beusedtodetectoscillationsinpressurefromahighpressuretoalowpressureandbacktoahigh
pressure.Asthecompressions(highpressure)andrarefactions(lowpressure)movethroughthe
medium,theywouldreachthedetectoratagivenfrequency.Forexample,acompressionwouldreach
thedetector500timespersecondifthefrequencyofthewavewere500Hz.Similarly,ararefaction
wouldreachthedetector500timespersecondifthefrequencyofthewavewere500Hz.
Thefrequencyofasoundwavenotonlyreferstothenumberofbackandforthvibrationsofthe
particlesperunitoftime,butalsoreferstothenumberofcompressionsorrarefactionsthatpassa
givenpointperunitoftime.Adetectorcouldbeusedtodetectthefrequencyofthesepressure
oscillationsoveragivenperiodoftime.Thetypicaloutputprovidedbysuchadetectorisapressure
timeplotasshownbelow.

Sinceapressuretimeplotshowsthefluctuationsinpressureovertime,theperiodofthesoundwave
canbefoundbymeasuringthetimebetweensuccessivehighpressurepoints(correspondingtothe
compressions)orthetimebetweensuccessivelowpressurepoints(correspondingtothe
rarefactions).Asdiscussedinanearlierunit,thefrequencyissimplythereciprocaloftheperiod.Forthis
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/Lesson2/PitchandFrequency 1/3
reason,asoundwavewithahighfrequencywouldcorrespondtoapressuretimeplotwitha
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smallperiodthatis,aplotcorrespondingtoasmallamountoftimebetweensuccessivehighpressure
points.Conversely,asoundwavewithalowfrequencywouldcorrespondtoapressuretimeplotwitha
largeperiodthatis,aplotcorrespondingtoalargeamountoftimebetweensuccessivehighpressure
points.Thediagrambelowshowstwopressuretimeplots,onecorrespondingtoahighfrequencyand
theothertoalowfrequency.

Frequency,PitchandHumanPerception
Theearsofahuman(andotheranimals)aresensitivedetectorscapableofdetectingthefluctuationsin
airpressurethatimpingeupontheeardrum.Themechanicsoftheear'sdetectionabilitywillbe
discussedlaterinthislesson.Fornow,itissufficienttosaythatthehumaneariscapableof
detectingsoundwaveswithawiderangeoffrequencies,rangingbetweenapproximately20Hzto20
000Hz.Anysoundwithafrequencybelowtheaudiblerangeofhearing(i.e.,lessthan20Hz)isknown
asaninfrasoundandanysoundwithafrequencyabovetheaudiblerangeofhearing(i.e.,morethan
20000Hz)isknownasanultrasound.Humansarenotaloneintheirabilitytodetectawiderangeof
frequencies.Dogscandetectfrequenciesaslowasapproximately50Hzandashighas45000Hz.Cats
candetectfrequenciesaslowasapproximately45Hzandashighas85000Hz.Bats,beingnocturnal
creature,mustrelyonsoundecholocationfornavigationandhunting.Batscandetectfrequenciesas
highas120000Hz.Dolphinscandetectfrequenciesashighas200000Hz.Whiledogs,cats,bats,and
dolphinshaveanunusualabilitytodetectultrasound,anelephantpossessestheunusualabilityto
detectinfrasound,havinganaudiblerangefromapproximately5Hztoapproximately10000Hz.

Thesensationofafrequencyiscommonlyreferredtoasthepitchofasound.A
highpitchsoundcorrespondstoahighfrequencysoundwaveandalowpitchsoundcorrespondstoa
lowfrequencysoundwave.Amazingly,manypeople,especiallythosewhohavebeenmusicallytrained,
arecapableofdetectingadifferenceinfrequencybetweentwoseparatesoundsthatisaslittleas2Hz.
Whentwosoundswithafrequencydifferenceofgreaterthan7Hzareplayedsimultaneously,most
peoplearecapableofdetectingthepresenceofacomplexwavepatternresultingfrom
theinterferenceandsuperpositionofthetwosoundwaves.Certainsoundwaveswhenplayed(and
heard)simultaneouslywillproduceaparticularlypleasantsensationwhenheard,aresaidto
beconsonant.Suchsoundwavesformthebasisofintervalsinmusic.Forexample,anytwosounds
whosefrequenciesmakea2:1ratioaresaidtobeseparatedbyanoctaveandresultinaparticularly
pleasingsensationwhenheard.Thatis,twosoundwavessoundgoodwhenplayedtogetherif
onesoundhastwicethefrequencyoftheother.Similarlytwosoundswithafrequencyratioof5:4are
saidtobeseparatedbyanintervalofathirdsuchsoundwavesalsosoundgoodwhenplayed
together.Examplesofothersoundwaveintervalsandtheirrespectivefrequencyratiosarelistedinthe
tablebelow.
Interval FrequencyRatio Examples
Octave 2:1 512Hzand256Hz
Third 5:4 320Hzand256Hz
Fourth 4:3 342Hzand256Hz
Fifth 3:2
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Theabilityofhumanstoperceivepitchisassociatedwiththefrequencyofthesoundwavethat
impingesupontheear.Becausesoundwavestravelingthroughairarelongitudinalwavesthatproduce
highandlowpressuredisturbancesoftheparticlesoftheairatagivenfrequency,theearhasan
abilitytodetectsuchfrequenciesandassociatethemwiththepitchofthesound.Butpitchisnotthe
onlypropertyofasoundwavedetectablebythehumanear

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