What is sound?

Sound is what is produced when something vibrates in such a way that someone can hear it.
The sound is heard when mechanisms inside the ear send electrical impulses to the brain.

This definition enables us to claim that sounds can exist even when there is no-one to hear
them and also that objects can vibrate while not necessarily producing sounds.

Sounds have a number of simple properties which can be observed by children and can be
understood in terms of the kinds of vibrations made.

Sounds:

 can vary between quiet or loud

 can vary between high pitched or low pitched
 can be single musical notes or (often unpleasant) noises
 travel outwards in all directions from a source
 become quieter the further they travel from the source

Vibrations

Vibrations are to and fro movements and can occur in solids, liquids and gases. If the
vibrations are sufficiently rapid (about 20 times per second) but not too fast (about 20,000
times per second) then humans can hear them as sounds. We can see fairly slow vibrations
when we "ping" a ruler or an elastic band and we can often feel vibrations when we speak
with our fingers lightly touching our vocal chords either side of the neck. Vibrations in slow
motion would be similar to the swing of a simple pendulum. The pendulum bob moves first
one way and then back again and then repeats this pattern, often with a slightly smaller
swing. If you pluck a guitar string you can see it vibrating for a number of seconds afterwards
but eventually the amount of movement to and fro becomes too small to be detected by the
human ear.

Energy is needed to start something vibrating and to keep it going as in an electric buzzer, a
vehicle engine or the human voice. Without an additional source of energy vibrations will
gradually become smaller and thus the sound will fade away.

The speed of sound in air

Sound can travel in air at approximately 332 metres per second. This is fast but not nearly as
fast as light which travels at 300 000 kilometres per second. This difference in speeds enables
us to appreciate that sound does take time to travel. When we see lightning the sound it
produces at exactly the same time is often heard as thunder a few seconds later by an observer
a few miles away. Unfortunately children will not always accept that the light and sound are
from the same instantaneous release of energy. It is, however, possible to watch a sound
being made at some distance away and to detect a slight delay in hearing the sound.
Exploding fireworks, the click of a ball on a cricket bat and a child bashing a dustbin lid at
the other end of a playing field will all provide this opportunity.
Sound travels in solids and liquids too

Sound waves travel faster and more effectively in liquids than in air and travel even more
effectively in solids. This concept is particularly hard to believe since our general experiences
lead us to hear reduced or garbled sounds in water or behind a solid door. There are reasons
for this. Most of our everyday experiences are when a sound travels first through air and then
through water or a solid. When the sound wave transfers from air into a solid some of it is
reflected back into the air and some may be absorbed by the new medium. The noise coming
from a room will be reduced if an observer outside closes the door. Sound from within the
room will travel to the closed door and start it vibrating. The vibrating door will set the air on
the outside vibrating too and a little of the original sound will be transmitted to the observer.
However, some of the sound arriving at the door will have been reflected back into the room
(actually making the noise inside the room louder!). Also some of the sound energy will have
been used up in making the door begin to vibrate so we can say some of the sound has been
absorbed by the door.

Hearing sounds through solids

If the sound is made directly within the solid and this travels directly to the ear then both
reflection and absorption are reduced or eliminated. Thus putting an ear to a desk and making
a quiet sound at the other end will demonstrate how well the sound will travel. (Compare this
with listening to the same sound through the air.) Further examples of sounds travelling
effectively through solids include listening to the central heating pump by placing a
(protected) ear to a radiator, listening to a string telephone and putting an ear to the ground to
hear the approach of horses hooves.

Sounds can travel at approximately 6000 metres per second in some solids and at a quarter of
this speed in water. This is because the molecules of solids are more tightly packed together
than in liquids and those in liquids are more tightly packed than in gases. Vibrating effects
are more easily passed on from one molecule to the next when they are in close proximity.

Sounds travel

Children can often identify the source of a sound and they know that their ear is required to
detect it but they have difficulty in understanding what happens in between.

The vibrating sound source moves in such a way that the air around it is also made to move.
Imagine a drum skin being hit hard with a beater. The skin moves to one side and squashes or
compresses the air next to it. This compressed air "pocket" in turn pushes and compresses the
air next to it while the "pocket" itself bounces back towards the position it came from. The
compressing effect and stretching effect therefore moves outwards from the sound source.
The movement of the air back and forth is itself a rapid vibration and the movement of the
effect outwards is in a wave form. Eventually the effect reaches the ear and is made into
signals which are sent to the brain.

Fig 1 Sound vibrations travelling through the air

Sound vibrations, then, travel outwards in all directions in waves from a sound source. As
they travel outwards the energy they contain becomes dissipated and therefore the sound
becomes weaker the further it is from the source. The shape of a sound wave with no
obstacles in its way would be approximately spherical.

Figure 1 shows the air as particles or molecules. Where the molecules are pushed closer
together is an area of compression and when they spring back (even further apart than before)
there is an area of rarefaction. It can be seen that while the wave of compressed molecules
moves away from the source, the molecules themselves only move a very small distance to
and fro. Thus, the air does not flow from the source to the ear - an idea often held by children.

A very good way of demonstrating how the molecules of a substance behave when
transmitting a sound is to use a "slinky" spring extended on a desk surface. Push one end
rapidly and a wave is sent along the length of the spring. It is possible to see the wave bounce
back (an echo) and of course to see that the parts of the spring (representing the molecules)
do not move along with the wave but merely "vibrate" back and forth.

Fig 2 Use a slinky to demonstrate sound waves.

Sound waves are called longitudinal waves because the particles move back and forth in the
direction of the wave movement. A transverse wave is like a wave on the sea in which the
particles of water move vertically and not in the direction of the wave itself. for this reason it
is a good idea to avoid likening a sound wave to the ripples on a pond or the wave produced
by a skipping rope attached to a wall.

Sound needs a medium in which to travel. Sound waves cannot form unless there are
molecules to bump into each other to pass the wave form along. Sounds will therefore not
travel in space where only a vacuum exists. You may have seen a classic demonstration in
which an electric bell is enclosed in a glass bell jar. As the air is slowly pumped out of the jar
the ringing bell is seen to be still moving but the sound gradually diminishes until it cannot be
heard at all. Astronauts working in space or on the surface of the moon can therefore only
talk to each other by using radio communication.

Receiving vibrations at the ear drum

Vibrations from a sound source will be funnelled by the outer ear into the ear canal towards
the ear drum. As the drum is made to vibrate in unison with the air molecules it moves some
tiny bones in the protected middle ear. These act like levers and magnify the effect of the
vibration. These in turn stimulate the liquid in the cochlea which is situated in the inner ear.
There are tiny hairs in the liquid inside the cochlea which respond to different vibrations. It is
these hairs which enable an electrical impulse to be sent to the brain which then registers the
sound.

Fig 3 The Ear

Diagram of the human ear to show:

The outer ear, ear canal and ear drum
The middle ear with the hammer, anvil and stirrup bones
The inner ear with the cochlea, internal liquid and hairs
The nerve to the brain

Amplitude of vibrations and loudness

Some of the properties of sounds can be understood by thinking about the size of the
vibrations made. The size of a vibration or its amplitude is a measure of how far the object
moves outwards from the starting position. An object vibrating with a large amplitude
requires a large amount of energy and produces a loud sound. If a drum is hit hard or a string
is plucked with great force a relatively loud sound will be made. A whisper or a feint
scratching sound will be made by vibrations of relatively small amplitude. In the case of a
guitar string or a plucked elastic band it is possible to see the amount of to and fro movement
that produces a loud or quiet sound.

Fig 4 Diagram to show a large amplitude along with a representation in graphic form

Figure 4 shows an object vibrating with a large amplitude and how this might be represented
on an oscilloscope in graphical form. Notice that the wave on the graph is not like the wave
that a sound produces.

Loudness is measured in decibels (dB). This is a measure of the energy which is producing
the sound and also how far away the sound detector is from the source. A prolonged sound
level of 100 dB can ultimately cause damage to the human ear, while a level of about 30 dB
would represent a quiet room with the television switched on.

Frequency of vibrations and pitch

The frequency of a vibration, measured in Hertz (Hz), is simply the number of to and fro
movements made in each second. A tuning fork or piano string vibrating at 256 Hz will
produce a pitch of middle C. A greater frequency than this will produce a higher-pitched note
and so on. Children will often mix up pitch and loudness believing that a higher pitched
sound is a louder one. Higher pitched sounds produce waves which are closer together than
for lower pitched sounds. (Think of the slinky - if you produce waves rapidly they will travel
quite close to each other, thus demonstrating a higher pitched sound.)

The pitch of a note will depend on a number of factors. One of these is the size of the
vibrating object. On a glockenspiel or xylophone the high notes are made by the smaller bars.
A smaller triangle or cymbal will make a relatively higher pitch note. On a stringed
instrument such as a guitar or violin a thinner string will generally make a higher note, but
also shortening the string by stopping it with the finger will produce a similar effect. On a set
of pan pipes or a church organ it is the shorter pipes which make the higher notes when the
air inside them vibrates.

Another factor which produces higher pitched notes is the tension within the vibrating object.
A guitar string can be tuned to a higher pitch by adjusting the string tensioner. An elastic
band can be stretched tighter and a drum skin can be tensioned to increase the pitch of the
sound it produces.

Fig 5. Diagram to show an object making a high pitched sound together with a graphical
interpretation.
Amplification of sounds

Sounds can be made louder or amplified in a number of ways. By providing more energy in
making the sound its loudness can be increased. This would be achieved by beating a drum
with greater vigour, blowing harder on the recorder or using more bodily energy in shouting
louder.

Electricity can supply the extra energy need to increase the volume of sound, for instance in a
Hi fi amplifier. When a stylus rests in the grooves of a rotating vinyl record, it is made to
vibrate with very small movements. These movements are turned into small electrical
impulses and sent to the amplifier of the Hi fi system. Here the small electrical currents are
made larger and sent to the loudspeaker system where they are converted into the much larger
vibrations of the speaker cone. A microphone picks up the small vibrations from the voice in
a similar way. The tiny movements inside the microphone of a coil of wire inside a strong
magnet can be turned into small electrical impulses. These, once more can be amplified by an
electronic system and made to drive a loudspeaker.

The volume of sound we hear can also be increased by funnelling it into the ear. The outer
ear already provides a funnelling effect but a hearing trumpet will improve this. Holding our
hands behind our ears will also have an impressive effect on the volume of sound received.

A fourth way in which sounds can be amplified is seen on the acoustic guitar, violin, drum,
xylophone and many other instruments. This is a hollow sound box made of rigid material
and often with a hole in. The small sound made by the instrument enables the sound box to
reverberate and thus to project the sound further away from the instrument.

Self Assessment

Answer these questions then check your answers against those given.

1. The picture shows a simple musical instrument made by a child. The child wants to make
louder sounds with it. What advice would you give in order to achieve this?

Fig 6. Simple bowed instrument

2. This is a picture of a simple version of an African finger piano or kalimba. Each of the
keys 1 - 5 can be plucked with a finger to give a sound.

Fig 7

Which keys would you pluck to play the first three notes of Three Blind Mice? or the three
opening notes of the Beatles' song All You Need is Love? (It begins: "Love, Love, Love".)

3. (i) A referee's whistle is blown loudly. Draw the pattern you would expect to see on an
oscilloscope screen.

(ii) An opera singer sings a low quiet note. Draw the pattern you would expect to see on an
oscilloscope screen.

4. A teacher asked a child to draw how a musical instrument can be heard from outside the
classroom. This was the drawing produced.

List the child's possible misconceptions (alternative frameworks) regarding sound.

List the ideas that the child does correctly understand about sound.

Fig 8 Child's drawing

Answers

The following are some examples of the answers you might give. There may be others just as
valid.

1. (a) The child could be encouraged to pluck the string more forcibly, thus giving it more
energy.

(b) The child might fix a hollow sound box (plastic ice cream container for instance) to the
cane or connect one end of the string to the hollow box. Some amplification would be
achieved if the string were merely plucked directly over a hole in the box.

(c) The child might be able to use a microphone and electrical amplifier to increase the sound
output.

2. The three note are descending in pitch so any of the following would be fine.

5, 4, 3 5, 4, 2 5, 4, 1 5, 3, 2 5, 3, 1 5, 2, 1

4, 3, 2 4, 3, 1 4, 2, 1

3, 2, 1

3. Fig 9
(i) Referee's whistle (ii) Opera singer's low, quiet note

(i) indicates a high pitch (many vibrations per second) and high amplitude (loudness)

(ii) indicates fewer vibrations per second (low pitch) and a quiet note (low amplitude)

4. Alternative conceptions

The child is confusing cause and effect by suggesting that the sound makes the vibrations.

The child may believe that sound will not travel through solids such as the door. The child
knows, however, that the sound will be heard faintly and has explained this by suggesting
that the sound travels through the gap under the door.

The child appears to believe that sound travels by the movement of the air as though an air
current is necessary.

The child shows no sign of understanding that sound can be reflected.

The child would need to be questioned as to whether the sound from the drum moves in all
directions.

It is not clear from the drawing that the child understands what a vibration is.

There is a suggestion that the ear is involved but this is not absolutely clear from the drawing

Correct ideas

The child appears to understand that some form of energy is needed to produce a sound. (The
beating of the drum.)

The child knows that sound travels from the source to the observer (shown by the arrows).

The child has some knowledge that an obstacle like a door will reduce the volume of sound
heard on the other side