PHYSICS

Sound

•Sound is a form of energy which produces a sensation of hearing in our ears. Sound is produced by vibrating objects.

•Vibration means a kind of rapid to and fro motion of an object. Sound of human voice is produced due to vibrations in
the vocal cords.

•Medium is a substance or matter through which sound can be transmitted. It can be solid, liquid or gas. Disturbance
created by source of sound in medium travels through medium and not particles of medium.

•Propagation of Sound: Sound moves through a medium from point of generation to listener. When an object vibrates,
it sets particles of medium around it vibrating. Particles do not travel all the way from vibrating object to ear. A particle
of medium in contact with vibrating object is first displaced from its equilibrium position then it exerts force on adjacent
particle. As a result, adjacent particle gets displaced from its position of rest. After displacing the adjacent particle, first
particle comes back to its original position. This process continues in the medium till the sound reaches your ear.

•Wave is a disturbance that moves through medium when particles of medium set neighboring particles into motion.
They in turn produce similar motion in others.

•Particles of medium don’t move forward themselves, but disturbance is carried forward. This is what happens during
propagation of sound in a medium, hence sound can be visualized as wave. Sound waves are characterized by motion of
particles in medium & are called mechanical waves. Air is most common medium through which sound travels.

•When vibrating object moves forward, it pushes & compresses air in front of it creating region of high pressure. Which
is called compression. When vibrating object moves backwards, it creates region of low pressure called rarefaction. As
object moves backward & forward rapidly, a series of compressions & rarefactions is created in air. These make the
sound wave that propagates through medium.

•Pressure is related to no. of particles of medium in given volume. More density of particles in medium gives more
pressure & vice versa. Thus, propagation of sound can be visualized as propagation of density variations or pressure
variations in medium.

•Longitudinal wave: In these waves’ individual particles of medium move in direction parallel to direction of
propagation of disturbance. The particles do not move from one place to another but they simply oscillate back & forth
about their position of rest. This is how a sound wave propagates. sound waves are longitudinal waves.

•Transverse wave: In these waves’ particles don’t oscillate along direction of wave propagation but oscillate up & down
about their mean position as wave travels. Thus, transverse wave is the one in which individual particles of medium
move about their mean positions in a direction perpendicular to direction of wave propagation. Light is a transverse
wave but for light, oscillations are not medium particles or their pressure or density. So, it is not a mechanical wave.

•Characteristics of sound wave

1. Frequency
2. Amplitude
3. Speed

•Compressions are regions where particles are crowded together & represented by upper portion of curve. Peak
represents region of maximum compression. Compressions are regions where density & pressure is high. Rarefactions
are regions of low pressure where particles are spread apart & are represented by valley or lower portion of the curve
in. Peak is called crest & valley is called trough of wave.

•Distance between two consecutive compressions or two consecutive rarefactions is called wavelength. Wavelength is
represented by λ (Greek letter lambda). Its SI unit is meter.
•Heinrich Rudolph Hertz (22.2.1857) was born in Hamburg, Germany & educated at University of Berlin. He confirmed
J.C. Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory by his experiments. He laid foundation for future development of radio,
telephone, telegraph & television. He also discovered photoelectric effect which was later explained by Albert Einstein.
SI unit of frequency was named as hertz in his honor.

•Frequency tells us how frequently an event occurs. Like if you’re beating drum. How many times you are beating drum
in unit time is called frequency of your beating drum.

•Density of medium oscillates between maximum value & minimum value. Change in density from maximum value to
minimum value then again to maximum value makes one complete oscillation. No. of oscillations per unit time is
frequency of sound wave. If we can count no. of compressions or rarefactions that cross us per unit time, we will get
frequency of sound wave. It is usually represented by ν (Greek letter nu). Its SI unit is hertz (Hz).

•Time Period is time taken by 2 consecutive compressions or rarefactions to cross a fixed point or time taken by one
complete oscillation. It’s denoted as T. Its SI unit is seconds.

•Both sounds travel through same medium & arrive at our ear at same time. Both sounds travel at same speed
irrespective of source. But sounds we receive are different due to different characteristics associated with sound.

•How brain interprets frequency of an emitted sound is called pitch. The faster the vibration of the source, the higher is
frequency & higher is the pitch. So, high pitch sound corresponds to a greater number of compressions & rarefactions
passing a fixed point per unit time. Objects of different size & conditions vibrate at different frequencies to produce
sounds of different pitch.

•Magnitude of maximum disturbance in medium on either side of mean value is called amplitude of wave. It is usually
represented by A. For sound its unit will be same as density or pressure. Loudness or softness of sound is determined
basically by its amplitude. Amplitude of sound wave depends upon force with which an object is made to vibrate.

•Sound wave spreads out from its source. As it moves away from source its amplitude as well as its loudness decreases.
Louder sound can travel a larger distance as it is associated with higher energy.

•Quality or timber of sound is characteristic which helps us to distinguish one sound from another having same pitch &
loudness. Sound which is more pleasant is said to be of rich quality. Sound of single frequency is called tone. Sound
which is produced due to mixture of several frequencies is called note & is pleasant to listen. Noise is unpleasant to ear;
Music is pleasant to hear & is of rich quality.

•Speed of sound remains almost same for all frequencies in given medium under same physical conditions.

•Intensity of sound is amount of sound energy passing each second through unit area. Loudness is a measure of the
response of the ear to the sound. Even when two sounds have equal intensity, we may hear one as louder than other
simply because our ear detects it better.

•Speed of sound depends on properties of medium through which it travels. Sound propagates through medium at finite
speed. Its speed is less than light. Speed of sound in medium depends on temperature of medium. Speed of sound
decreases when we go from solid to gaseous state. In medium if we increase temperature, speed of sound increases. Ex-
speed of sound in air is 331 m s–1 at 0ºC and 344 m s–1 at 22 ºC.

•Sound bounces off a solid or a liquid like rubber ball bounces off wall. Like light, sound gets reflected at surface of a
solid or liquid & follows same laws of reflection. Directions in which sound is incident & reflected make equal angles with
normal to reflecting surface at point of incidence. An obstacle of large size which may be polished or rough is needed for
reflection of sound waves.

•If we shout or clap near a suitable reflecting object like mountain, we will hear same sound again. This sound is called
echo. The sensation of sound persists in our brain for 0.1 s. To hear distinct echo time interval between original sound &
reflected one must be at least 0.1s.
•Total distance covered by sound from point of generation to reflecting surface & back should be at least (344 m/s) × 0.1
s = 34.4 m. So, to hear distinct echoes min. distance of obstacle from source of sound must be half of this or 17.2 m. This
distance will change with temperature of air. Echoes may be heard more than once due to multiple reflections. Rolling of
thunder is due to multiple reflections of sound from no. of reflecting surfaces, such as the clouds & land.

•Reverberation is repeated reflection that leads to persistence of sound. In a big hall excessive reverberation is highly
undesirable. To reduce reverberation, roof & walls of big hall are generally covered with sound-absorbent materials like
compressed fiberboard, rough plaster or draperies. Seat materials are selected on basis of sound absorbing properties.

Uses of multiple reflection of sound

•Megaphones, horns, trumpets & shehnais are designed to send sound in particular direction without spreading it in all
directions. In these instruments, tube followed by conical opening reflects sound successively to guide most of sound
waves from source in forward direction towards audience.

•Stethoscope is a medical instrument used for listening to sounds produced within body, mainly in heart or lungs. In
stethoscopes sound of patient’s heartbeat reaches doctor’s ears by multiple reflection of sound.

•Mostly ceilings of concert halls, conference halls & cinema halls are curved so sound after reflection reaches all corners
of hall. Sometimes curved soundboard may be placed behind stage so that sound after reflecting from sound board,
spreads evenly across width of hall.

•Audible range of sound for human beings extends from 20 Hz to 20000 Hz. Children under age of five & dogs can hear
up to 25 kHz (1 kHz = 1000 Hz). As people grow their ears become less sensitive to high frequencies.

•Sounds of frequencies below 20 Hz are called infrasonic sound or infrasound. If we could hear infrasound, we would
hear vibrations of pendulum just as we hear buzzing of a bee. Rhinoceroses communicate using infrasound of frequency
as low as 5 Hz. Whales & elephants produce sound in infrasound range. It’s observed that some animals get disturbed
before earthquakes. Earthquakes produce low-frequency infrasound before main shock waves begin which possibly alert
animals.

•Frequencies higher than 20 kHz are called ultrasonic sound or ultrasound. Ultrasound is produced by animals such as
dolphins, bats & porpoises. Moths of certain families have sensitive hearing equipment. These moths can hear high
frequency squeaks of bat & know when bat is flying nearby & are able to escape, capture. Rats also play games by
producing ultrasound.

1 Ultrasounds are high frequency waves. They are able to travel along well-defined paths even in presence of obstacles.
They are used extensively in industries & for medical purposes.

2 Ultrasound is generally used to clean parts located in hard-to-reach places like spiral tube, odd shaped parts, electronic
components etc. Objects to be cleaned are placed in cleaning solution & ultrasonic waves are sent into solution. Due to
high frequency, particles of dust, grease & dirt get detached & drop out. Objects thus get thoroughly cleaned.

3 Ultrasounds can be used to detect cracks & flaws in metal blocks in construction of big structures like buildings,
bridges, machines & scientific equipment. Cracks or holes inside metal blocks which are invisible from outside reduces
strength of structure. Ultrasonic waves are passed through metal block detectors to detect transmitted waves. If there is
even a small defect, ultrasound gets reflected back indicating presence of flaw.

•Ordinary sound of longer wavelengths can’t be used for such purpose as it will bend around corners of defective
location & enter detector.

1 Ultrasonic wave are made to reflect from various parts of heart & form image of heart. This technique is called
echocardiography.

2 Ultrasound scanner is an instrument which uses ultrasonic waves to get images of internal organs of human body.
Doctor may image patient’s organs. It helps doctor to detect abnormalities like stones in gall bladder & kidney or tumor.
In this technique ultrasonic waves travel through tissues of body & get reflected from region where there is change of
tissue density. These waves are converted into electrical signals that are used to generate images of organ. These images
are displayed on monitor or printed on film. This technique is called ultrasonography. It’s also used to examine fetus
during pregnancy to detect congenial defects & growth abnormalities.

3 Ultrasound may be used to break small ‘stones’ formed in kidneys into fine grains. These grains later get flushed out
with urine.

Formulae

• v=λ ν

V = speed, λ = wavelength, ν (nu) = frequency

1
• ν=
T
ν (nu) = frequency, T = time period

•T = Total time / Number of oscillations