SCIENCE

Class: 09
Chapter: 12
Sound

1. What is sound and how is it produced?

Answer: Vibration in the particles causes sound.

When a body vibrates, it forces the nearby
particles of the medium to vibrate. Hence, a
disturbance is created in the medium, which
travels in the form of waves. This disturbance is
called sound.

2. Describe with the help of a diagram, how

compressions and rarefactions are produced
in air near a source of sound.

Answer:

When a body vibrates, it creates a region of high

pressure and low pressure in its surrounding.
These regions of high pressure and low pressure
are called compressions and rarefactions. As the
body continues to move forward and backward, it
 produces a series of compressions and
rarefactions.

3. Cite an experiment to show that sound needs

a material medium for its propagation.

Answer:

For this, take an electric bell and hang it inside an

empty bell-jar fitted with a vacuum pump. Now,
start removing the air from the bell-jar with the
help of a vacuum pump. It can be observed that
the sound of the ringing bell decreases. On further
pumping off air, vacuum will be created inside the
jar. At this moment, no sound can be heard from
the ringing bell although one can see that the
prong of the bell is still vibrating. This experiment
shows that sound cannot travel through vacuum.
Hence, sound requires a material medium for its
propagation.

4. Why sound wave is called a longitudinal

wave?

Answer: The vibration of the medium that moves

along the direction of the wave is known as
 longitudinal wave. In the case of sound wave, the
particles of the medium vibrate in the direction
parallel to the direction of the propagation of
disturbance. Therefore, a sound wave is called a
longitudinal wave.

5. Which characteristic of the sound helps you

to indentify your friend by his voice while
sitting with others in a dark room?

Answer: Quality is the characteristic of the sound

which helps us to recognise a particular person.
Sound produced by two persons may have the
same pitch and loudness, but the quality of the
two sounds will be different.

6. Flash and thunder are produced

simultaneously. But thunder is heard a few
second after the flash is seen. Why?

Answer: The speed of sound is very less as

compared to the speed of light. Hence, sound of
thunder takes more time to reach the Earth as
compared to light. Therefore, a flash is seen
before than the thunder is heard.

7. A person has a hearing range from 20 Hz to

20 kHz. What are the typical wavelengths of
sound waves in the corresponding to these
two frequencies? Take the speed of sound in
air as 344 ms-1.

Answer:
 Given, ν1 = 20 Hz, ν2 = 20 kHz = 20000 Hz
Speed of sound in air, v = 344 ms-1
On using the relation,
v = ν×λ
v
or, λ =
ν
Let, the corresponding wavelengths for frequencies
20 Hz and 20 kHz are λ1 and λ2.
v 344
∴ λ1 = = = 17.2 m
ν1 20
v 344
λ2 = = = 0.0172 m.
ν2 20000

8. Two children are at opposite ends of an

aluminum rod. One strikes the end of the rod
with a stone. Find the ratio of times taken by
the sound wave in air and in aluminum to
reach the second child.

Answer:
Consider the length of the aluminium rod = l.
Speed of sound wave in aluminium at 25 °C,
v1 = 6420 ms-1
Hence, time taken by the sound wave to reach
d d
the other end, t1 = = ... (i)
v1 6420
 Speed of sound in air at 25 °C,
v2 = 346 ms-1
Hence, the time taken by sound wave to reach the
d d
other end, t2 = = ... (ii)
v2 346
From (i) and (ii),
d
t2 6420
= 346 = = 18.55 .
t1 d 346
6420

9. The frequency of a source of sound is 100 Hz.

How many times does it vibrate in a minute?

Answer:

Given, Frequency of sound = 100 Hz

Total time = 1 min = 60 s
On using the relation,
Number of oscillations
Frequency =
Total time
Here, Number of oscillations = Frequency × Total time
= 100 × 60 = 6000
Thus, the source vibrates 6000 times in a minute.

10. Does sound follow the same law of reflection

as light does? Explain

Answer: Yes. The incident sound wave and the

reflected sound wave make the same angle with
the normal to the surface at the point of incidence.
Moreover, the incident sound wave, the reflected
 sound wave, and the normal to the point of
incidence all lie in the same plane.

11. When a sound is reflected from a distance

object, an echo is produced. Let the distance
between the reflecting surface and the
source of sound production remains the
same. Do you hear echo sound on a hotter
day?

Answer: An echo can be heard when the time

interval between the original sound and the
reflected sound is at least 0.1 s. The speed of
sound in a medium increases with an increase in
temperature. Therefore, echo cannot be heard on
a summer day as the time interval between the
original sound and the reflected sound decreases.

12. Give two practical applications of reflection of

sound waves.

Answer: (i) Sound board: It is used to send the

sound towards audience in a big hall or
auditorium. This works on the basis of laws of
reflection of sound waves.

(ii) Stethoscope: It is also based on reflection of

sound. In a stethoscope, the sound of a patient’s
heartbeat reaches to the doctor’s ear by multiple
reflection of sound.

13. A stone is dropped from the top of a tower

500 m high into a pond of water at the base
 of the tower. When is the splash heard at the
top? Given, g = 10 ms-2 and speed of sound =
340 ms-1.

Answer:

Given, h = 500 m, g = 10 ms-2 ,

Speed of sound, v = 340 ms-1
The intial velocity (u) of the stone when it is dropped
is zero, i.e., u = 0
Let, it takes (t) time to reach on the surface of water
1 2
On using the relation, s = ut + gt
2
∴ 500 = 0+ 0.5 × 10 × t2
or, 100 = t2
or, t = 10 s
Now, let time taken by the sound to reach at the top the
tower be t'
then, h =v × t '
or, 500 = 340 × t'
or, t' =1.47 s
∴ Total time = t+t' = 10+1.47 = 11.47 s.
Hence, after 11.47 s later, the splash will be heard at
the top of the tower.

14. A sound wave travels at a speed of 339 ms-1.

If its wavelength is 1.5 cm, what is the
frequency of the wave? Will it be audible?

Answer:
 Given, Speed of sound, v = 339 ms-1
Wavelength , λ = 1.5 cm = 0.015 m
On using the relation,
v = λ×ν
v 339
∴ ν= = = 22600 Hz
λ 0.015
As the frequency range of audible sound for humans
lies between 20 Hz to 20000 Hz. Since, the frequency
of the given sound is more than 20000 Hz, it is not
audible.

15. What is reverberation? How can it be

reduced?

Answer: The reverberation is the persistence of

sound due to repeated reflection. When the source
produces sound, it starts moving in all the
directions. It is partly reflected back from the wall.
This reflected sound reaches the other wall and
again gets reflected partly. Thus, sound can be
heard even after the source has stopped producing
the sound.

To minimise reverberation, sound should be

absorbed as it reaches the walls and the ceiling of
a room. Sound absorbing materials like fibre
board, heavy curtains, and cushioned seats can be
used to reduce reverberation.

16. What is loudness of sound? What factors

does it depend on?
 Answer: Loudness depends on the amplitude of
the sound. The louder a sound, the more energy it
has. Loudness is proportional to the square of the
amplitude of vibrations.

17. Explain how bats use ultrasound to catch a

pray.

Answer: Bats generate high-pitched ultrasonic

shrill. These high-pitched shrill are reflected by
objects such as preys and comes back to the bat’s
ear. Thus, a bat can easily determine the distance
of a prey to catch it.

18. How is ultrasound used for cleaning?

Answer: To clean an object when it is put in a

cleaning solution, the ultrasonic sound waves are
passed through the solution. The high frequency of
these ultrasound waves detaches the dirt from the
objects.

19. Explain the working and application of a

sonar.

Answer: It is a device that uses ultrasound

propagation to navigate, communicate or detect
underwater objects such as submarine, a sunken
ship, an iceberg, etc. A SONAR apparatus consists
of two parts:
(i) A transmitter (for emitting ultrasonic waves).
(ii) A receiver (for detecting the reflected ultrasonic
waves).
 Both these parts are installed in a ship or a boat.
The transmitter sends ultrasonic waves towards
the ocean floor.

These waves when reflected back by an object

or the ocean floor in form of ‘echo’ are detected
by a detector.
Depth of an object can be calculated using time
interval between generation of wave and
reception of its echo and the speed of sound in
water. This method is known as echo-ranging.

20. A sonar device on a submarine sends out a

signal and receives an echo 5 s later.
Calculate the speed of sound in water if the
distance of the object from the submarine is
3625 m.

Answer:
 Given, Time taken to hear the echo, t = 5 s
Distance of the object from the submarine, s = 3625 m
∴ Total distance travelled = 2s
2s 2 × 3625
∴ Velocity , v = =
t 5
= 1450 ms-1.

21. Explain how defects in a metal block can be

detected using ultrasound.

Answer: The ultrasounds cannot pass through a

defective metal block but they are reflected back.
This fact is used to detect defects in metal blocks.
Ultrasound is passed through one end of a metal
block and detectors are placed on the other end.
Thus, defects in metal blocks can be detected by
using ultrasound.

22. Explain how the human ear works.

Answer:
Pinna collects different sounds produced in our
surroundings and sends these sounds to the ear
drum through ear canal. At the end of ear canal,
there is a thin membrane called the eardrum or
tympanic membrane. When the compression of
sound waves strikes the eardrum, it is pushed
inward. When the rarefaction of sound waves strikes
the ear drum, it moves outward. Thus, eardrum
vibrates. Middle ear consists of three bones –
hammer, anvil and stirrup. These bones amplify the
vibrations from the eardrum and transmit these
vibrations to the inner ear. Inner ear consists of
cochlea that converts vibrations or pressure
variations into electrical signals. These electrical
signals sent to brain via auditory nerve. Brain
interprets them as sound.