Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region IV-A CALABARZON
Schools Division of Cavite City
CAVITE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

QUARTER 3 Science 7
Sound Waves (Week 5 )
In this lesson, you are expected to:
1. Describe the characteristics of sound using the concepts of wavelength,
velocity, and amplitude;
2. Explain sound production in the human voice box, and how pitch,
loudness, and quality of sound vary from one person to another; and
3. Describe how organisms produce, transmit, and receive sound of various
frequencies (infrasonic, audible, and ultrasonic sound).
Sound is an example of a longitudinal wave. It is also classified as a
mechanical wave since sound waves need medium in order to propagate.
Sound wave can be described by five characteristics: wavelength, amplitude,
period, frequency and velocity or speed.
Learning Task No.1: Arrange Me!
Direction: Arrange the jumbled letters below to form a word/s. Write your answer
in your paper.
DIORPE 1. Time required to produce one complete wave.
LETVEHWANG 2. The minimum distance in which a sound wave repeats itself. It
is the length of the complete wave and denoted by a Greek letter ꭗ (lambda).
FYERUQENC 3. The number of waves that pass a point per unit time.
SEDEP 4. The distance traveled by a wave in one second.
PAMDILUTE 5. Distance between origin and crest (or trough)
Properties of Sound
Sound is a form of energy produced by vibrating objects. These
vibrations create sound waves which move through a medium before reaching
our ears. Since it is a wave, we can relate its properties to the characteristics
of sound wave. The basic properties of sound include pitch, loudness, and
timbre (tone).
Pitch
The highness or lowness of sound is known as the pitch or a musical
note. A higher frequency sound has a higher pitch, and a lower frequency sound
has a lower pitch. The figure below shows that a high frequency wave has a lot
of vibrations per second, and a low frequency wave has few vibrations per
second.

https://www.teachoo.com/10441/3068/Loudness--Intensity--Pitch-and-Quality-of-
Sound/category/Concepts/
Figure 1. Pitch of a Sound

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The human ear can only sense within the frequency range of 20 Hertz
(Hz) to 20,000 Hertz. Vibrational frequencies beyond 20,000 Hz is called
ultrasonic frequencies while extremely low frequencies are known as
infrasonic frequencies. On the other hand, animals like dogs can hear sounds
as high as 50,000 Hz while bats can detect as high as 100,000 Hz.

Loudness
The amplitude of a sound wave determines its loudness or volume. The
figure below shows that a high amplitude sound means louder sound, and a
low amplitude sound means softer sound. The vibration of the source sets the
amplitude of a wave. More energetic vibration corresponds to larger amplitude.

https://www.teachoo.com/10441/3068/Loudness--Intensity--Pitch-and-Quality-of-
Sound/category/Concepts/
Figure 2. Loudness of a Sound
Loudness is also determined by the sensitivity of ear. It is subjective but
is still related to the intensity of sound. In fact, despite the subjective variations,
loudness varies nearly with intensity. Intensity is one indicator of amplitude. It
refers to the amount of energy. Table 1 shows varying intensity of sound. Sound
intensity is measured by various instruments like the oscilloscope.
Table 1: Sound Levels of Different Sound Sources

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Noise-levels-of-different-sound-
sources_tbl1_324169086
The unit of intensity level for sound is the decibel (dB), which was named
after Alexander Graham Bell who invented the telephone. On the decibel scale,
an increase of 1 dB means that sound intensity is increased by a factor of 10.
A logarithmic scale is used to describe sound intensity, which roughly
corresponds to loudness.
Timbre
Timbre is a quality of a musical sound which is used for differentiating
two sounds with the same frequency. Every sound that we hear is dependent

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on its source. Sound timbre is defined by the characteristic sound waveform
which is dependent on the material through which it is produced.
Below is a picture that explains the different types of waveforms and
gives an idea of how timbre appears.

https://takelessons.com/blog/what-is-timbre-in-music-z02
Figure 3. Sound Timbre of Different Sources
Any sound consists of more than one frequency and most of these
additional frequencies are known as harmonics. For sound to possess timbre,
it must have one fundamental frequency and seven or more additional
harmonics. The following are the characteristics of timbre: dull, cold, rich,
delicate, thick, thin, heavy, clean, nasal and light. Noise is a sound wave that is
distorted and not pleasing to the senses.
Learning Task No.2: Complete Me!
Directions: Complete the statements by choosing the correct answer from the
word box provided. Write your answers in your paper.
Word Box

Pitch Infrasonic Ultrasonic

Decibel Loudness Intensity
1. _____is known as the highness or lowness of sound.
2. Vibrational frequencies beyond 20 000 Hz is called _______frequencies.
3. Extremely low frequencies are known as _________ frequencies.
4. The amplitude of a sound wave determines its ______ or volume.
5. The unit of intensity level for sound is the __________ which is named
after Alexander Graham Bell.
Learning Task No.3: PLUCK ME!
Direction: Make a sounding box using the materials listed below by following
the given procedures.
Materials
1. Rubber bands 2. Shoe box (or any box) without cover
Procedure
1. Place the assorted rubber bands from thinnest to thickest. In the absence of
varied thickness of rubber bands, you may use identical bands but vary by
increasing the number of the rubber bands around the box as shown
in figure 4.

Figure 4. Sounding box

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2. Pluck or abruptly pull and release each rubber band and listen to the sound it
produced.
Questions:
1. What did you observed when you plucked each rubber band?
2. Is there a difference in the sound produced by each rubber band? How do they
differ?
3. Which rubber band produced a high pitch sound? Which rubber band produced
a low pitch sound?
4. Are there changes in the note when you plucked the stretched band?
5. Arrange the rubber bands in sequence from the highest note to the lowest note
produced.
Learning Task 4
Directions: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answers in your
paper.
1. It is a wave which is distorted or unpleasant sound to the senses.
A. Loudness C. Pitch
B. Noise D. Timbre
2. A low frequency sound has a _______ pitch.
A. Low C. Moderate
B. High D. strong
3. It is an extremely low vibrational frequency.
A. Infrasonic frequency C. Supersonic frequency
B. Mega sonic frequency D. Ultrasonic frequency
4. What is the SI unit of frequency?
A. Hertz C. Meter per second
B. meter D. second
5. It refers to the distance in which the wave travels per unit time.
A. Amplitude C. Wavelength
B. Frequency D. Wave speed
6. It refers to the highness or lowness of sound.
A. Loudness C. Pitch
B. Noise D. Timbre
7. It refers to the number of cycles occurring per unit time.
A. Amplitude C. Period
B. Frequency D. Wavelength
8. It is a vibrational frequency beyond 20 000 Hz.
A. Infrasonic frequency C. Supersonic frequency
B. Mega sonic frequency D. Ultrasonic frequency
9. Which of the following best describes a high frequency sound? It has ________
A. Low pitch C. low energy
B. High pitch D. A and C
10. A sound wave is a ________.
A. longitudinal wave C. standing wave
B. transverse wave D. shock wave