CLASS IX PHYSICS

Chapter – SOUND
• Sound is a form of energy which produces a sensation of hearing in our ears.
• Sound is produced by vibrating objects.
• The matter or substance through which sound is transmitted is called a medium. It can be solid,
liquid or gas.
• Sound cannot travel through vacuum.
• A wave is a disturbance that moves through a medium when the particles of the medium set
neighboring particles into motion.
• Mechanical waves are waves that need a medium for propagation. Eg sound
• Two basic types mechanical waves are:
1. Longitudinal waves - the individual particles of the medium move in a direction parallel to the
direction of propagation of the disturbance. Eg sound
Longitudinal waves propagate by forming compressions (regions of high pressure or high density)
and rarefactions (regions of low pressure or low density).

2. Transverse waves - the individual particles of the medium move about their mean positions in
a direction perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation.eg. ripples on water surface.
Transverse waves propagate by forming crests and troughs.

❖ CHARACTERISTICS OF A WAVE
▪ Amplitude (A)
The maximum displacement of the particles of the medium from its mean position is called
amplitude of the wave. The S.I unit of amplitude is metre (m).
▪ Time period (T)
The time required for one complete oscillation or vibration. SI unit is second (s).

▪ Frequency (f or ν)
The number of oscillations or vibrations in one second. SI unit is Hertz (Hz)

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▪ Wavelength(λ)
The distance travelled by a wave in one time period of the wave. It is the distance between two
consecutive crests or troughs (or two compressions or rarefactions). SI unit is metre (m).

▪ Speed or velocity(v)
The speed of a wave is the distance which a point on a wave, travels per unit time. SI unit m/s.
➢ Relationship between speed, frequency and wavelength is:

speed = frequency x wavelength

❖ Characteristics of sound:
▪ Loudness:
* Loudness is a measure of the response of the ear to the sound.
* The loudness of sound is a measure of the sound energy reaching the ear per second.
*The loudness of sound depends on the amplitude of sound waves (Soft sound has small
amplitude and louder sound has large amplitude.).
*The loudness of sound is measured in decibel (dB).

▪ Pitch:
*How the brain interprets the frequency of an emitted sound is called its pitch.
*Pitch is that characteristic of sound by which we can distinguish between different sounds of the
same loudness.
*The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency of vibration. The pitch of a sound is directly
proportional to its frequency (the higher is the frequency, the higher is the pitch).

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▪ Quality (or Timbre)

*The quality or timber of sound is that characteristic which enables us to distinguish one sound
from another having the same pitch and loudness.
*The sound which is more pleasant is said to be of a rich quality.
*A sound of single frequency is called a tone.
*The sound which is produced due to a mixture of several frequencies is called a note and is
pleasant to listen to.
*Noise is unpleasant to the ear. Music is pleasant to hear and is of rich quality.
▪ Intensity
*The amount of sound energy passing each second through unit area is called the intensity of
sound.
➢ Speed of sound in different media.
✓ The speed of sound depends on the properties of the medium through which it travels and on
the temperature of the medium.
✓ In any medium as we increase the temperature the speed of sound increases.
✓ The speed of sound decreases as we go from solid to gaseous state.
✓ Sound travels with a speed which is much less than the speed of light.
• Reflection of sound
*Sound bounces off a solid or a liquid.
*Laws of reflection:

1. The incident sound wave, the reflected sound wave and the normal, all lie on the same
plane.
2. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, that is, i = r
• Echo
o The sound heard after reflection from a hard surface is known as echo.
o To hear a distinct echo the time interval between the original sound and the reflected one must
be at least 0.1s (since the sensation of sound persists in our brain for about 0.1 s).
o For hearing distinct echoes, the minimum distance of the obstacle from the source of sound
must be 17.2 m, if the speed is 344 m/s. (This distance will change with the temperature of air).
o Echoes may be heard more than once due to successive or multiple reflections. The rolling of
thunder is due to the successive reflections of the sound from a number of reflecting surfaces,
such as the clouds and the land.
• Reverberation
✓ The repeated reflection that results in the persistence of sound is called reverberation.
✓ To reduce reverberation:
*The roof and walls of the auditorium are generally covered with sound-absorbent materials like
compressed fibre board, rough plaster or draperies.
*The seat materials are selected on the basis of their sound absorbing properties.

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❖ USES OF MULTIPLE REFLECTION OF SOUND

1. Megaphones or loudhailers, horns, musical instruments such as trumpets and shehanais, are
all designed to send sound in a particular direction without spreading it in all directions. (In
these instruments, a tube followed by a conical opening reflects sound successively to guide
most of the sound waves from the source in the forward direction towards the audience.)
2. Stethoscope is a medical instrument used for listening to sounds produced within the body,
mainly in the heart or lungs. In stethoscopes the sound of the patient’s heartbeat reaches the
doctor’s ears by multiple reflection of sound.

3. The ceilings of concert halls, conference halls and cinema halls are curved so that sound after
reflection reaches all corners of the hall.

4. A curved soundboard may be placed behind the stage so that the sound, after reflecting from
the sound board, spreads evenly across the width of the hall

• Range of Hearing
o The audible range of sound for human is 20 Hz to 20000 Hz.
o Sounds of frequencies below 20 Hz are called infrasonic sound or infrasound.
o Vibrating simple pendulum, earthquakes, animals like whales, elephants, rhinoceroses
produce infrasonic sound.
o Frequencies higher than 20 kHz are called ultrasonic sound or ultrasound.
o Ultrasound is produced by animals such as dolphins, bats, rats and porpoises.
❖ Application of ultrasound:
(i) In Industry
(a) Ultrasound is used for detecting flaws (cracks)in metal blocks without damaging them.
An internal crack or hole does not allow ultrasound to pass through it, it reflects the ultrasound.

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(b)Objects such as spiral tubes, odd shaped parts, electronic components are cleaned by ultrasound.
The object is placed in a cleaning solution and ultrasound waves are sent into the solution. Due to
the high frequency ,the particles of dust, grease, and dirt get detached and drop out .Thus it gets
cleaned thoroughly.

(ii) In Medical field:

(a) Ultrasonic waves are made to reflect from the various parts of the heart and form images of the
heart. This technique is called echocardiography.
(b) The technique of obtaining pictures of internal organs such as kidney, liver, gall bladder, pancreas,
kidneys, uterus, etc. by using echoes of ultrasound pulses is called ultrasonography and the
machine used is called ‘ultrasound scanner.’
{Ultrasonography: In this, ultrasonic waves travel through the tissues of the body and get reflected
from a region where there is a change of tissue density. These waves are changed into electrical
signals that are used to generate images of the organs. These images are then displayed on a
monitor or printed on a film.
Uses: Ultrasonography is used to (i)examine the congenial defects and growth of the foetus during
pregnancy (ii) to detect abnormalities, such as stones in the gall bladder and kidney or tumours in
different organs.}
(c) Ultrasound may be used to break the kidney stones into fine grains. These grains later get flushed
out with urine.
(d) Bats search out prey and fly in dark night by emitting and detecting ultrasonic waves.
{The high –pitched ultrasonic squeaks of the bat are reflected from the obstacles or prey and
returned to bat’s ear. The nature of reflections tells the bat where the obstacle or prey is and what it
is like.}
(e) Porpoises also use ultrasound for navigation and location of food in the dark.

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