Sound

Reflection of Sound
In auditoriums, concert halls, or cinema halls, we hear repeated sounds. These repeated sounds
give rise to the phenomena of echo and reverberation. Why are the sounds repeated in the
halls? This is because similar to light, sound also reflects from a surface.

Reflection of Sound

Sound changes its direction and bounces back when it strikes a surface such as water, cardboard,
etc. The bouncing of sound from a material surface is known as the reflection of sound. Soft
surfaces such as cushions, curtains, etc. can absorb some amount of the striking sound. Hence,
these are bad reflectors of sound. Hard surfaces are the best reflectors of sound. The law of
reflection of sound is similar to the law of reflection of light.

Laws of reflections of sound

i) The incident sound, the reflected sound, and the normal to the screen at the point of
incidence all lie in the same plane.

(ii) The angle of reflection of sound is always equal to the angle of incidence.

Applications of Reflection of Sound

(1) Megaphone, (2) Hearing Board, (3) Sound Boards.

(1) Megaphone
: Megaphone is a horn-shaped tube. The sound waves are prevented from spreading out by successive
reflections and are confined to the air in the tube.

(2) Hearing aid

: It is a device used by the people who are hard of hearing. Here the sound waves, which are received by the
hearing aid are reflected into a narrower area leading to the ear.

(3) Sound Boards

: Curved surfaces can reflect sound waves. This reflection of sound waves is used in auditorium to spread the
waves uniformly throughout the hall. Reflection of sound waves is done by using Sound Boards. The speaker is
located at the focus of the sound board.

Have you ever wondered how sound becomes louder in a loudspeaker?

Sound is enhanced in a loudspeaker because of the multiple reflection of sound. This happens
because similar to light, sound can also reflect from a surface and hence change its amplitude.
This characteristic of sound is used while making sound-producing devices such as loudspeaker,
bullhorn, megaphone, etc.

I. Stethoscope

It is a medical instrument that doctors use to check the pulse rate and heartbeats of their patients.
It consists of a chest piece and a pair of earpieces connected to one another by a rubber tube. The
chest piece consists of a sensitive membrane that vibrates when brought in contact with the chest.
The air particles within the rubber tube vibrate because of the vibration caused in the membrane
with the frequency of its source i.e., heartbeats, pulse, etc. Sound waves undergo multiple
reflections inside the rubber tube before reaching the earpieces.

The working of various musical instruments such as trumpets and shehanais is based on
multiple reflection of sound.

Can you explain why one of the bulb horns ends is wider in
comparison to the other end?

Have you ever thought why the ceilings of big halls such as concert halls, cinema halls,
auditoriums, etc. are curved?

This is because sound waves transmitted by the source in big halls is absorbed by the walls, floor,
seats, and even by the clothes of the crowd sitting inside the hall. Hence, the ceilings of halls are
curved to reduce this problem.

III. Soundboard
A soundboard is sometimes used in big halls to overcome or reduce the problem of the absorption
of sound by different surfaces.

A soundboard is a concave board

placed behind the speaker that
acts as a reflector. The speakers
podium is placed at the focus of
this board. After reflection from
the board, the audience get
parallel beams of powerful
sound.

Go to your school auditorium and check the measures employed there to reduce the
absorption of sound. Discuss the findings with your friends.

Phenomena Related to the Reflection of Sound

Echo

It is a sound produced when the original sound undergoes repeated reflection from a hard surface.
For example, when you clap in a big hall, you first hear the original sound and then the reflected
sound. This reflected sound is the echo of the original sound.

Calculation of minimum distance for hearing an echo

The principle of echo is used to determine distances. The speed of sound in air at 20C is 344 m/s.
Now, speed is related with distance and time as

Where,

Total distance = Distance travelled back and forth by the sound from the source

The sensation of a sound exists in our brain for about 0.1 seconds. This implies that we can
distinguish two sounds, if they fall on our ears with a time interval greater than 0.1 second. Hence,
the minimum time interval between the original and reflected sounds for an echo will be 0.1
second.

Time = 0.1 sec

Speed = 344 m/s

 Total distance = Speed Time

= 344 0.1

= 34.4 m

Hence, the distance between the source and the reflector will be half the total distance i.e.,

= = 17.2 m

The minimum distance between a source and the reflecting surface for an echo is 17.2
m.

Take a stopwatch and go inside your school auditorium. Stand at one corner. Make sure that there
is pin drop silence in the hall. Now, shout once and try to hear its echo. Measure the time
difference between the original sound and its echo with the help of the stopwatch. Consider the
speed of sound in the auditorium hall to be 332 m/s. Try to calculate the length of the auditorium
and discuss the result with your friends.

Sonar

Sonar (acronym for SOund Navigation And Ranging) is

an acoustic device that is installed in ships to measure
depth, direction, and speed of underwater objects such
as icebergs, sea rocks, shipwrecks, spy submarines,
etc. It uses high frequency ultrasound for this purpose
and works on the principle of echo. It consists of two
main devices called transducer and detector.
Transducer produces and transmits ultrasonic sound
and detector receives the ultrasound that reflects
from the bottom of a sea or an underwater object.
SONAR measures the echo of the ultrasound and
calculates the depth or distance of underwater objects
using the following relation.

Where, d = Distance between the ship and the underwater object

2d = v t

v = Speed of ultrasound in water

t = Time taken by the echo to return from the object

This method of measuring distance is known as echo ranging.

Reverberation

It is an acoustic phenomenon of repeated reflection of sound in a big hall. The time gap between
several echoes is so short that these cannot be distinguished. The overlapping of several echoes
results in a distorted, noisy, and confusing sound. This phenomenon of overlapping of sound
caused by multiple reflections is called reverberation.

Reverberation is undesirable, if produced in excess. We can reduce the excessive reverberation by

using various types of sound-absorbing materials such as rough plaster, compressed fibreboards,
draperies, etc. on walls. Cushions can be used with seats; carpets can be put on the floor; heavy
curtains can be put against doors and windows, etc. By covering the doors of cinema halls with
thick curtains, reverberation can be reduced

Echo and Reverberation

Echo

It is a sound produced when the original sound undergoes repeated reflection from a hard surface.
For example, when you clap in a big hall, you first hear the original sound and then, the reflected
sound. This reflected sound is the echo of the original sound.

Calculation of the minimum distance for hearing an echo

The principle of echo is used for determining distances. The speed of sound in air at 20C is 344
m/s. Now, speed is related to distance and time as

Where, total distance is the distance travelled back and forth by the sound from the source

The sensation of a sound exists in our brain for about 0.1 second. This implies that we can
distinguish two sounds if they fall on our ears with a time interval greater than 0.1 second. Hence,
the minimum time interval between the original and the reflected sound for an echo to be heard
will be 0.1 second.

Time = 0.1 sec

Speed = 344 m/s

Total distance = Speed Time

= 344 0.1
= 34.4 m

Hence, the distance between the source and the reflector will be half the total distance,

= = 17.2 m

The minimum distance between a source and the reflecting surface for an echo is 17.2
m.

Take a stopwatch and go inside your school auditorium. Stand at one corner. Make sure that there
is pin drop silence in the hall. Now, shout once and try to hear its echo. Measure the time
difference between the original sound and its echo with the help of the stopwatch. Consider the
speed of sound in the auditorium hall to be 332 m/s. Try calculating the length of the auditorium,
and discuss the result with your friends.

Reverberation

It is an acoustic phenomenon of repeated reflection of sound in a big hall. The time gap between
several echoes is so short that these cannot be distinguished. The overlapping of several echoes
results in a distorted, noisy and confusing sound. This phenomenon of overlapping of sound
caused by multiple reflections is called reverberation.

Reverberation is undesirable if produced in excess. We can reduce excessive reverberation by

using various types of sound-absorbing materials (like rough plaster, compressed fibreboards,
draperies, etc.) on walls. Cushions can be used with seats, carpets can be put on the floors, heavy
curtains can be put against doors and windows, etc., for reducing reverberations. In cinema halls,
reverberation is reduced by covering the doors with thick curtains.

Free and Damped Vibration

Free vibrations

The vibrations produced in a body on being slightly disturbed from its mean position are called
free vibrations or natural vibrations.

The time period of the body executing natural vibrations is called natural time period.

The number of vibrations executed per second by freely vibrating body is called natural
frequency.
Examples

Freely suspended pendulum.

A metal blade clamped at one end is gently disturbed.
A tuning fork struck on a rubber pad.

Damped vibrations

The periodic vibrations of continuously decreasing amplitude are called damped vibrations.

Energy of the system is dissipated; dissipating forces are frictional forces.

Damping force (Fd) depends on the nature of the surrounding medium; it is proportional to the
velocity (v) of the bob, and acts opposite to the direction of velocity.

Where,

b = Positive constant (depends on characteristics of the medium such as viscosity, the shape and
size of the bob)

When a mass (m) attached to a spring is released, it settles to a height. When the mass is
pulled up/down, the restoring force (Fs) on the spring is proportional to the displacement
(x) from its equilibrium position.
Forced Vibrations and Resonance

We know that the phenomenon of damping does not let a freely vibrating body to maintain its
vibration. For maintaining the amplitude of the vibration, an external periodic force has to be
applied. The vibrations produced by the external periodic force are called forced vibrations.

Hence, when a body vibrates at a frequency other than its natural frequency, under the
influence of an external periodic force, it is said to be under forced vibrations.

Properties of Forced vibrations:

When an external periodic force is applied on a body, it does not vibrate with its natural
frequency. Rather, it acquires the frequency of the external periodic force.
Amplitude of the forced vibrations remains constant with time, but the magnitude depends
on the magnitude of the driving force.
The amplitude of the vibrations is very small if the frequency of the external vibration is
very different from the natural frequency of the body.
The amplitude of the vibrations is very large if the frequency of the external periodic force
is equal to, or a multiple of the natural frequency of the vibrating body.

Examples

When the handle of a vibrating tuning fork is hit against a table top, a loud sound is heard.
This is because the tuning fork forces the table (which has a very large surface area) to
vibrate with its own frequency.
The board and wind box of a sitar or a guitar make forced vibrations when the wires are
plucked.
To produce more sound, all stringed musical instruments have a wind box. The wind box
forces the vibrations to move from the strings to the air, thereby causing more sound to
be produced.
The needle of a gramophone produces forced vibrations.
Vibrations in a Stretched String
If you have seen someone play the guitar, then you must have noticed how the different
strings produce different sounds. This difference in sounds occurs because the strings
 vibrate at different frequencies. Let us understand the factors that govern the frequencies
of vibrations in a stretched string.
Law of Length
The frequency of a vibration produced by a stretched string is inversely proportional to its
length.

Thus,
Where,
f= Frequency
l = Length
If we take two strings with lengths l1and l2, such that their frequencies are f1and f2,then

and
or

and
After comparing and rearranging both the equations, we will get
f1l1= k and f2l2= k
or
f1l1 = f2l2
or

Law of Tension
The frequency of a vibration is directly proportional to the square root of the tension in a
stretched string.

Thus,
f = Frequency of the stretched string
T = Tension of the stretched string
If we take two strings with tensions T1 and T2, such that their frequencies are f1and f2,
then

or

Similarly,
After comparing both the equations, we get

 or

Law of Mass
The frequency of a vibration is inversely proportional to the square root of the mass per
unit length of the stretched string.

Thus,
If we take two strings with mass per unit lengths M1 and M2, such that their frequencies
are f1and f2, then

or

f2
or

f2 = k
By combining the three laws, we get

or

Where, k is a constant

For the vibration of the string shown in the figure, the node so produced is called the

fundamental node. The constant k for the fundamental node is .

Node is a point on the vibrating string which has the maximum tension and the least
displacement.
Anti-nodeis the point where the displacement is the maximum and tension is zero.
Fundamental node consists of two nodes and one anti-node, as shown in the above figure.
However, if a string vibrates in two segments (as shown in the figure below), then the
node produced is called the first octave or the second harmonic. The value of constant is 1
for this node.
Thus,
 f=
Where, k = 1

It consists of two anti-nodes and three nodes.

Noise and Music

Have you ever visited a carpenters shop? The various sounds produced in the shop are loud
and unpleasant. This is because the sounds produced in a carpenters shop are examples of noise.
Similarly, in a busy traffic, sounds produced by horns are noise. Noise is always unpleasant
and painful.

Prepare a list of sources producing noise.

Musical instruments such as tanpura and flute produce sounds, which are pleasant to the ears.
However, the melody of a sound is lost, if it becomes too loud. Then, it becomes noise. Therefore,
music is pleasant and melodious.

Noise Pollution

Pollution occurs when there is an excess of some unwanted entity. Noise pollution occurs when
there is an excess of unwanted sounds in the environment. It is one of the biggest problems of
modern era. Noise pollution similar to air pollution is largely created by humans. It is mainly
caused by factories, vehicles, construction instruments such as jackhammer, bulldozer, leaf
blower, air conditioner, desert cooler, etc.

Loudspeakers and crackers produce noise pollution. Televisions and transistors running on high
volumes can also contribute to noise pollution. However, the worst offenders of noise pollution are
transportation vehicles.
Prepare a list of some sound sources that produce noise pollution.

Effects of noise pollution:

Noise pollution can lead to many health-related problems such as the following:

Insomnia
Loss of hearing
Hypertension
Severe headache
Stress-related diseases
Aggressiveness in behaviour

How can noise pollution be controlled?

To control noise pollution, we must control its source. Hence, silencers must be installed in
vehicles such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, and other noise-producing machines. We should
watch television and listen to music at a low volume. Also, use of loudspeakers as well as horns of
buses and trucks should be minimised.

Regular maintenance of automobiles should be done so that noise produced by them can be kept
under check. All industrial work should be done away from residential areas. More trees should be
planted in residential areas as they help in reducing noise.