ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS

ASSIGNMENT – 1 ( unit - 2 )

NAME : THRISHA AMGOTH

R.NO : 18271AA035
 Sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through
a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the reception of such waves and
their perception by the brain. Only acoustic waves that have frequencies lying between
about 20 Hz and 20 kHz, the audio frequency range, elicit an auditory percept in humans.

Acoustics
Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that
deals with the study of mechanical waves in
gases, liquids, and solids including vibration,
sound, ultrasound, and infrasound. A scientist
who works in the field of acoustics is
an acoustician, while someone working in the
field of acoustical engineering may be called
an acoustical engineer.

Reception Of Sound
Physiological acoustics is the study of the
transmission of sound and how it is heard by the
human ear. Sound travels in waves, vibrations that
cause compression and rarefaction of molecules in
the air. The organ of hearing, the ear, has three
basic parts that collect and transmit these
vibrations: the outer, middle and inner ear. The outer
ear is made of the pinna, the external part of the ear
that can be seen, which acts to funnel sound
through the ear canal toward the eardrum or
tympanic membran
Properties of Sound Waves
Sound is a wave. More specifically, sound is defined to be a disturbance of matter that is
transmitted from its source outward. A disturbance is anything that is moved from its
state of equilibrium. Some sound waves can be characterized as periodic waves, which
means that the atoms that make up the matter experience simple harmonic motion.

As the string moves to the

A vibrating string moving to the left, it creates another
right compresses the air in front compression and rarefaction
of it and expands the air behind as the particles on the right
it. move away from the string.

The Speed of Sound

The speed of sound varies greatly depending upon the medium it is traveling through. The
speed of sound in a medium is determined by a combination of the medium’s rigidity (or
compressibility in gases) and its density. The more rigid (or less compressible) the medium,
the faster the speed of sound. The greater the density of a medium, the slower the speed of
sound. The speed of sound in air is low, because air is compressible.
Sound intensity
Sound intensity, also known as acoustic intensity, is defined as the power carried by
sound waves per unit area in a direction perpendicular to that area. The SI unit of intensity,
which includes sound intensity, is the watt per square meter (W/m2). One application is the
noise measurement of sound intensity in the air at a listener's location as a sound energy
quantity.
Sound intensity is not the same physical quantity as sound pressure. Human hearing is
sensitive to sound pressure which is related to sound intensity. In consumer audio
electronics, the level differences are called "intensity" differences, but sound intensity is a
specifically defined quantity and cannot be sensed by a simple microphone.
The inverse square law

A plane wave of a single frequency in theory will propagate forever with no change or
loss. This is not the case with a circular or spherical wave, however. One of the most
important properties of this type of wave is a decrease in intensity as the
wave propagates. The mathematical explanation of this principle, which derives as much
from geometry as from physics, is known as the inverse square law.
The decibel scale
The ear mechanism is able to respond to both very small and very large pressure waves
by virtue of being nonlinear; that is, it responds much more efficiently to sounds of very
small amplitude than to sounds of very large amplitude. Because of the enormous
nonlinearity of the ear in sensing pressure waves, a nonlinear scale is convenient in
describing the intensity of sound waves. Such a scale is provided by the sound
intensity level, or decibel level, of a sound wave, which is defined by the equation

Sound levels for nonlinear (decibel) and linear (intensity) scales

decibels intensity* type of sound

*In watts per square metre.

artillery fire at close

130 10
proximity (threshold of pain)

amplified rock music; near jet

120 1
engine

loud orchestral music, in

110 10−1
audience

100 10−2 electric saw

90 10−3 bus or truck interior

−4
80 10 automobile interior

average street noise; loud

70 10−5
telephone bell

normal conversation;
60 10−6
business office

50 10−7 restaurant; private office

40 10−8 quiet room in home

30 10−9 quiet lecture hall; bedroom

radio, television, or
20 10−10
recording studio

10 10−11 soundproof room

absolute silence (threshold of

0 10−12
hearing)
THANK YOU