Sound

What is Sound?
Sound is a wave that is created by vibrating objects and propagated through a medium from one
location to another. Sound is produced due to the vibration of objects. Vibration is the rapid to
and fro motion of an object.
Propagation of Sound:
When an object vibrates, the particles around the medium vibrate. The particle in contact with
the vibrating object is first displaced from its equilibrium position.
A disturbance that travels through a medium, transporting energy from one location to another
location is called wave. The medium is simply the material through which the disturbance is
moving; it can be thought of as a series of interacting particles. So sound is considered as a wave.
Sound waves require medium for transmission. Medium can be solid, liquid or gas. Sound
waves are called mechanical waves.
When a vibrating object moves forward, it pushes and compresses the air in front of it forming a
region of high pressure called compression (C). When the vibrating object moves backward, it
forms a region of low pressure called rarefaction (R).

A vibrating object produces a series of compressions (C) and rarefaction (R)

In these waves the particles move back and forth parallel to the direction of propagation of the
disturbance. Such waves are called longitudinal waves.
There is another kind of waves called transverse waves. In these waves the particles oscillate
up and down perpendicular to the propagation of the direction of disturbance.
Compressions are the regions of high pressure and density where the particles are crowded and
are represented by the upper portion of the curve called crest.
Rarefactions are the regions of low pressure and density where the particles are spread out and
are represented by the lower portion of the curve called trough.

The distance between two consecutive compressions (C) or two consecutive rarefactions (R) is
called the wavelength. The wavelength is usually represented by (Greek letter lambda). Its SI
unit is metre (m).
Characteristics of a sound wave:
i.
ii.
iii.

Frequency
Amplitude and
Speed

i. Frequency of sound wave:

The change in density from the maximum value to the minimum value, again to the maximum
value, makes one complete oscillation. The number of such oscillations per unit time is called
the frequency of the sound wave. Its SI unit is hertz (Hz). It is usually represented by (Greek
letter, nu).
Time taken for one complete oscillation in the density of the medium is called the time period of
the sound wave. It is represented by the symbol T. Its SI unit is second (s). Frequency and time
period are related as follows:
v=1/T

ii. Amplitude of sound wave:

The magnitude of the maximum disturbance in the medium on either side of the mean value is
called the amplitude of the wave. The amplitude of sound wave is the height of the crest or
trough. It is represented by the letter A. The SI unit is the same as that of density or pressure.
The loudness or softness of a sound is determined basically by its amplitude. The amplitude as
well as the loudness decreases as the sound moves away from its source.
Pitch and loudness of sound:
The pitch of sound depends on the frequency of vibration. If the frequency is high, the sound has
high pitch and if the frequency is low, the sound has low pitch.

iii. Speed of sound:

The speed of sound is more in solids, less in liquids and least in gases. The speed of sound also
depends on the temperature and pressure of the medium. If the temperature of the medium is
more, the speed of sound is more.
Speed, V = distance / time = /T
Here is the wavelength of the sound wave. It is the distance travelled by the sound wave in one
time period (T) of the wave. Thus,
V = v
That is, speed = wavelength frequency. The speed of sound remains almost the same for all
frequencies in a given medium under the same physical conditions.
Intensity of sound wave:
The amount of energy that is transported through a given area of the medium per unit of time is
known as the intensity of the sound wave. Intensity is the energy/time/area or power/area.
Units for the intensity of a sound wave are Watts/meter2.
Reflection of Sound:
Sound gets reflected at the surface of a solid or liquid and follows the laws of reflection.

i)
ii)

The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

The incident ray, the reflected ray and normal at the point of incidence all lie in the
same plane.

Echo:
If we shout or clap near a reflecting surface like tall building or a mountain, we hear the same
sound again. This sound which we hear is called echo. It is caused due to the reflection of sound.
The sensation of sound persists in our brain for about 0.1 s. To hear an echo clearly, the time
interval between the original sound and the echo must be at least 0.1 s.
Since the speed of sound in air is 344 m/s, the distance travelled by sound in 0.1 s =
344 m/s x 0.1 s = 34.4 m
So to hear an echo clearly, the minimum distance of the reflecting surface should be half this
distance that is 17.2 m.
Echoes may be heard more than once due to successive or multiple reflections.
Reverberation:
Echoes may be heard more than once due to repeated or multiple reflections of sound from
several reflecting surfaces. This causes persistence of sound called reverberation.
In big halls or auditoriums to reduce reverberation, the roofs and walls are covered by sound
absorbing materials like compressed fibre boards, rough plaster or draperies.
Uses of Multiple Reflection of Sound:

Megaphones, horns, musical instruments like trumpets, etc. are deigned to send sound
by multiple reflection in a particular direction without spreading in all directions.
Doctors listen to sounds from the human body through a stethoscope. The sound of
heartbeat reaches the doctors ears by multiple reflections.
Generally the ceilings of cinema halls and auditoriums are curved so that sound after
multiple reflections reaches all parts of the hall.
Sometimes a curved sound board is placed behind the stage so that sound after multiple
reflections spreads evenly across the hall.

Range of Hearing:
The audible range of sound for human beings extends from about 20 Hz to 20000 Hz.
Sounds of frequencies below 20 Hz are called infrasonic sound or infrasound. Whales and
elephants produce sound in the infrasound range.
Frequencies higher than 20 kHz are called ultrasonic sound or ultrasound. Ultrasound is
produced by dolphins, bats and porpoises.
Uses of ultrasonic sound:
Ultrasonic sound is used to clean objects like electronic Components, used to detect cracks in
metal blocks, used in ultra sound scanners for getting images of internal organs of the human
body used to break small stones formed in the kidneys into fine grains.
Sonar:
The acronym SONAR stands for SOund Navigation And Ranging. It is a device which uses
ultrasonic waves to measure distance, direction and speed of underwater objects. The distance
of the object can be calculated by knowing the speed of sound in water and the time taken
between the transmission and reception of ultrasound.
Sonar consists of a transmitter and a detector and is installed in a boat or a ship. The transmitter
produces and transmits ultrasonic waves. These waves travel through water and after striking
the object on the seabed, get reflected back and are sensed by the detector. The detector converts
the ultrasonic waves into electrical signals which are appropriately interpreted. The distance of
the object that reflected the sound wave can be calculated by knowing the speed of sound in
water and the time interval between transmission and reception of the ultrasound.
The above method is called echo-ranging. The sonar technique is used to determine the depth of
the sea and to locate underwater hills, valleys, submarine, icebergs, sunken ship etc.
Human Ear:

The human ear has three main sections, which consist of the outer ear, the middle ear, and the
inner ear. Sound waves enter your outer ear and travel through your ear canal to the middle ear.
The ear canal channels the waves to your eardrum, a thin, sensitive membrane stretched tightly

over the entrance to your middle ear. The waves cause your eardrum to vibrate. It passes these
vibrations on to the hammer, one of three tiny bones in your ear. The hammer vibrating causes
the anvil, the small bone touching the hammer, to vibrate. The anvil passes these vibrations to
the stirrup, another small bone which touches the anvil. From the stirrup, the vibrations pass
into the inner ear. The stirrup touches a liquid filled sack and the vibrations travel into the
cochlea, which is shaped like a shell. Inside the cochlea, there are hundreds of special cells
attached to nerve fibres, which can transmit information to the brain. The brain processes the
information from the ear and lets us distinguish between different types of sounds.