Physics I Notes: Chapter 13 – Sound

I. Properties of Sound
A. Sound is the only thing that one can hear!
Where do sounds come from?? Sounds are produced by VIBRATING or OSCILLATING
OBJECTS! Sound is a longitudinal wave produced by a vibrating source that causes regular
variations in air pressure (P in diagram above).

B. Audible range of sound for most young people is 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz

1. Infrasonic waves are below 20 Hz and ultrasonic waves are above 20,000 Hz. Infra- and
ultra- have to do with frequencies below and above the normal range of human hearing.
This is NOT to be confused with subsonic and supersonic…these terms have to do with
the speeds of moving objects. For example: a subsonic car travels slower than the speed
of sound in air, while a supersonic jet airplane travels faster than the speed of sound in air.

C. Frequency determines the pitch – how high or low we perceive the sound to be. The higher the
frequency, the higher the pitch you will hear.

D. Loudness depends upon relative amplitude of the wave

E. Intensity of a sound wave is the rate of energy flow (or Power) through a given area. Sound waves
propagate spherically outward from the source. Since the original amount of energy is spread out
over a larger amount of surface area, the intensity of sound decreases by the inverse square law as it
moves away from the source.

Power
Intensity =
4πr 2
The value of the intensity of sound determines its loudness or volume, but the relationship is NOT
directly proportional. This is because the sensation of loudness is approximately logarithmic in the
human ear. Relative intensity, which is found by relating the intensity of a given sound to the threshold
of hearing, corresponds more closely to human perceptions of loudness. Relative intensity is measured in
decibels.
The Decibel Scale:
Relative I (in dB) = log (I/Io); Io = threshold of hearing). A 10 dB increase (10 X the intensity) in sound
level is heard as being as about twice as loud.

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 • Threshold of hearing (Io)– approximate lowest intensity of sound that can be heard by the
average human ear (occurs at about 1000 Hz with an intensity of 1.0 X 10–12 W/m2)
• Threshold of pain – approximate loudest sound that the human ear can tolerate (1.0 W/m2)

Example #1: If the intensity of a person’s voice is 4.6 X 10-7 W/m2 at a distance of 2.0 m, how much
power does that person’s voice generate?

Example #1a: If you were 3 times farther away (at 6.0 meters from the source), how would the intensity change?
How much intensity would you receive at that new location?

F. Speed of sound waves depends upon the properties of the medium. The speed of sound in air @
1.0 atm and 20o C is 343 m/s.
1. The speed of sound in air generally increases by 0.6 m/s for each increase of 1oC. Speed of
sound is generally greater in liquids than gases and typically fastest in solids. Two factors
that determine speed of sound: the elasticity and the density of the medium. Elasticity is
the more important of the two factors. Increased elasticity increases the speed and
increased density tends to slow it down. The interaction of these two factors determines
the speed in a given medium. Elasticity is a measure of how quickly and easily a medium
regains its original state or shape. Metal pipes are very dense BUT so elastic that the wave
speed in metals is very fast.

2. Mach 1 is NOT Warp speed! Mach 1 is the speed of sound in air. When a plane exceeds
this speed (~340 m/s or about 750 miles per hour) the plane is said to break through the
sound barrier and go supersonic! The waves produced by the plane create a shock wave that
travels along in a cone shape behind the plane. As the cone passes by observers they hear a
sonic boom created by the overlap of all the waves produced by the plane. The angle of the
cone is determined by how much above the speed of sound the plane is traveling. See the
diagrams below.

In the first picture below on the left, the source of the waves is sitting still. It moves in the second
picture but slowly. In the third picture, the object is moving at exactly the speed of the sound waves
it produces, and then in the fourth picture it’s moving faster than sound. http://www.lon-
capa.org/~mmp/applist/doppler/d.htm

Sboom.mpg
When a plane is moving faster than the speed of sound, a sonic boom can be heard by people after the plane
goes by…BUT A sonic boom is not the crash made as a plane “breaks the sound barrier”! The sonic boom
that an observer on the ground would hear is created by the overlap and constructive interference of the
compression waves that form a 3-d cone-shaped shock wave. As long as the plane is traveling faster
than the speed of sound, it will drag this shock wave along behind it. The faster the plane, the longer
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and narrower the cone becomes. You hear the sonic boom once the shock wave passes you by (this is
usually not until the plane is very far past you)!

III. Doppler Effect or Doppler Shift – the change in frequency (and wavelength) due to relative
motion of source and/or detector.
A. When the source is moving toward the detector, the observed frequency is higher and, since
velocity does not change in a given medium, the wavelength is shortened. Higher frequency
sounds have higher pitch, and higher frequency light is called “blue-shifted”.
B. Observed frequency is lower (and wavelength longer) when source and observer are moving away
from each other. This results in lower pitched sounds and “red-shifted” light.

http://www.wfu.edu/physics/demolabs/demos/3/3
b/3B40xx.html

Shortcut to caltraindopplermono22.wav.lnk

IV. Resonance and Harmonics – in order for a musical instrument to sound good and
project that sound outward to an audience - a standing wave must be formed in the
instrument and its resonance chamber!
A. Standing waves on a vibrating string
1. Fundamental frequency (or first harmonic) (f1); lowest possible frequency (lowest pitched
sound) from a standing wave on a string that is fixed at both ends. The fundamental frequency is
sounded when the length of the string is exactly ½ the wavelength.
2. Upper Harmonics – integral multiples of the fundamental frequency (f2 = 2f1, f3 =3f1, f4 =4f1,
etc.) L = length of string λ is wavelength

Notice the # of nodes & anti-nodes.

Example #2: The speed of waves in a particular guitar string is found to be 425 m/s. Determine the
fundamental frequency (1st harmonic) of the string if its length is 76.5 cm.

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Example #3: A guitar string with a length of 80.0 cm is plucked. The speed of a wave in the string is 400
m/s. Calculate the frequency of the first, second, and third harmonics.

B. Standing waves in an air column – two basic examples: Closed and open
1. Closed-pipe resonator (closed at ONE end)
Resonance occurs when the frequency of a force applied to an object matches the natural
frequency of vibration of that object. When a sound wave has a wavelength that matches the
resonance length of the tube, a standing wave is produced and the sound heard.

***The shortest column of air that can resonate in a closed-pipe resonator is ¼

wavelength. NOTICE: the wave must be open where the pipe is open and wave is closed where
the pipe is closed!!

Each additional resonance length is spaced by an increase of exactly ½ of a wavelength from that
point since an antinode (wave is opened up) must be located at the opening of the tube in order for
the sound to be heard.

*****Because of this restriction, there is no 2nd harmonic nor any even # harmonics in a closed end
pipe.
Only odd harmonics are present in a closed pipe resonator, BUT you can be asked to give the first three
harmonics that will be heard for this type of pipe…
Answer: f1, f3 =3f1, and f5 =5f1
For f1, L = 1/4 λ. For f3, L = 3/4 λ. And for f5, L = 5/4 λ L = length of pipe λ is wavelength

Example #4: Titan Tommy and the Test Tubes are playing at Shades in Lincolnshire this weekend. The
lead instrumentalist uses a test tube (closed end air column) with a 17.2 cm long air column. The speed of
sound in the test tube is 340 m/s. Find the frequency of the first harmonic played by this instrument.

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C. Open-pipe resonator (open at BOTH ends)
The harmonic pattern for resonances in an open-pipe resonator is identical to the harmonic pattern for a
string fixed at both ends.
Minimum length of an open-pipe resonator is ½ wavelength and all harmonics are present. For f1
find the wavelength and use v= λf to solve for f.
Then the upper harmonics are (f2 = 2f1, f3 =3f1, f4 =4f1 , etc.) λ is wavelength, L = length of pipe.
L=½λ L=λ L = 3/2 λ

Example #5: Determine the length of an open-pipe resonator required to produce a fundamental frequency
of 480 Hz when the speed of sound in air is 340 m/s.

Example #6: Determine the fundamental frequency of an open-pipe resonator which has a length of 67.5
cm when the speed of sound in air is 340 m/s.

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 V. Beats and Beat Frequency
Beats occur when two waves of slightly different frequencies interfere; the pattern varies in such a way
that the listener hears an alternation between loudness and softness. The beat frequency will be the
difference between the two frequencies that are interacting. For example, the beat frequency will be 4
Hz when a 356 Hz tone is interacting with a 360 Hz tone.

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/beats.html#sounds

Quiet Loud quiet loud

Regular Physics - Ch. 13 Homework Problems: p. 507-509 #’s 2, 7, 10, 11, 14, 21, 28, 30, 31, 40, 41,
42, 43, 44, and 47a.

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