Lecture 2:

Fundamentals of Sound

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 Contents
• Characteristics of Sound
• Properties of Sound
• Sound Propagation
• Measurement of Sound
• The Ear and Its Response to Loudness

What is sound ?

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 Characteristics of Sound
Sound can travel through any kind of matter, but
not through a vacuum (without space).
The speed of sound is not always the same.
Remember that sound is a vibration of kinetic
energy passed from molecule to molecule. The
closer the molecules are to each other and the
tighter their bonds, the less time it takes for them to

= pass the sound to each other and the faster sound

can travel. It is easier for sound waves to go
through solids than through liquids because the
molecules are closer together and more tightly
bonded in solids. Similarly, it is harder for sound to
pass through gases than through liquids, because
gaseous molecules are farther apart. The speed of
sound is faster in solid materials and slower in
liquids or gases.

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 Characteristics of Sound
Factors affecting the Speed of Sound:
(a) Density of the medium through which sound travels: With the
increase in density of medium the speed of sound also increases.
i.e. speed of sound in solids > speed of sound in liquids > speed of
sound in air.
↑ Vsound 9 T M
(b) Temperature: The speed of sound increases with the increase
in the temperature i.e. with every 1o increase in temperature the
speed of sound increases by 0.6 m/s.
(c) Humidity of air: As the humidity of air increase the speed of
sound also increases. V
↑ ✗
sound Humidity ↑
directly proportional

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 Requirements of Sound

• Vibrating body: vibrating bodies create pressure changes

capable of propagating from the source. It’s the pressure change
that serves as the auditory signal

• An elastic medium: A substance capable of propagating

pressure changes. Usually this is air (but not always).

• Receptive organ: something to translate physical pressure

changes into a perceptual experience – usually ears.

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 Perception of Sound

*
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 Perception of Sound

Outer ear: sound waves travel down the ear canal to the
eardrum, which vibrates in response
Middle ear: hammer, anvil, and stirrup transfer
vibrations to inner ear
Inner ear: cochlea transforms vibrational
-
energy to
electrical energy and sends signals to the brain

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 Physical Dimensions of Sound Wave
• Amplitude
– height of a cycle
– relates to loudness
• Wavelength ( )
–-distance between peaks
• Frequency ( f )
– cycles per second
– relates to pitch
run
– velocity:
• Most sounds mix many Sound is repetitive
frequencies & amplitudes changes
in air pressure over time
 Sound Propagation
Sound waves are commonly reflected or refracted from a boundary, which means a
change in the medium through which they are being transmitted.

Reflection Refraction
• wave strikes a surface and it • Change in wave’s direction as it passes from one
bounced back. medium to another, due to differences in speed of
• Law of Reflection: angle of wave.
incidence = angle of • Index of refraction (n) – measure of how much a
reflection wave’s speed is reduced in a particular medium.
• nmedium = speed in the vacuum / speed in the
medium

¥
• Like light, as sound waves pass from one medium to
another, they also change direction.
• Snell’s Law: -n1sin 1 = n2sin
• As a wave passes from low n to high n, it bends toward the
normal.
• As a wave passes from high n to low n, it bends away from
the normal.
• If n is the same for both media, the wave does not bend.
 When sound is reflected..

• Echo – becomes apparent to the listener only when the distance

from the source and the reflecting medium is great and the
difference between the original and reflected sound is greater or
equal to 1/17 of a second
• Flutter – if a series of echoes between two parallel surfaces
resulting to prolongation of sound. This creates listener fatigue.
Echo and Flutter results to interference!
 When sound is reflected..

=
• Constructive interference
• Reflected waves that are in phase with the incoming waves
undergo constructive interference.
• Constructive interference occurs when two equal, in-phase
waves meet.
• Destructive interference
• Waves that are out of phase undergo destructive
interference
• Destructive interference occurs when two equal, out-of-
phase waves meet. In both cases, the wave displacements
are superimposed when they meet, but they then pass
through one another and return to their original amplitudes
When sound is reflected..

¥74k
✗ x*
 Sample Problem

ED
• Suppose a man stands at a distance from a cliff and claps his
hands. He receives an echo from the cliff after 4 second.
Calculate the distance between the man and the cliff. Assume
the speed of sound to be 343 m/s.
Teano =
¥ =
¥ = 2s
• Solution
timevt
The D= taken by the sound to come back as echo is 2t = 4
Thus, t = 2 s /s) ( 2s)
( 343m=

The distance is d = vt =(343 m/s)(2 s) = 686 m. Ef

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 ↳
• Loudness
Psychological Dimensions of Sound Wave

– refers to how loud or soft a sound seems to a listener. The

loudness of sound is determined, in turn, by the intensity, or
amount of energy, in sound waves

µ↑amñ
– higher- amplitude results in louder sounds
– measured in decibels (dB), 0 dB represents hearing
threshold
••Pitch
– Refers to the0frequency of a sound. It describe how high or
low the sound seems to a person
– higher frequencies perceived as higher pitch
– Humans hear sounds in 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz range

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 Psychological Dimensions of Sound Wave

• Timbre or Quality

6000
– describes the tone or unique
quality of a sound MAN
'

– complex patterns added to the

lowest, or fundamental, frequency
of a sound, referred to as spectra
– spectra enable us to distinguish
musical instruments
• Multiples of fundamental frequency
give music
Mr
• Multiples of unrelated frequencies give
noise
 Sound Measurement: Sound Power Level

• PWL characterizes the intrinsic acoustic power of an acoustic

noise/sound source
• Power level of a given sound in watts:

PWL (dB) = 10 * log (W/Wo)

Where:
W0 = 10-12 Watt
Thus,
PWL = 10 log W + 120 (dB)

Where:
W = sound power in Watts (W)
Wo = reference sound power
 Sound Measurement: Pressure
• Pressure is fundamental to acoustics. Sound Pressure Level
(SPL) characterizes the acoustic noise level observed at a
certain distance from the source in a certain acoustic
environment. It refers to the degree of fluctuation present in a
vibrating object.
– Pressure = force per unit of area
– Unit: Newtons per square meter (N/m2), called a Pascal
(modern unit)

• Sound Pressure Level (SPL):

SPL = 10 log (P2/Po2) SPL = 10 log (P/Po) 2 SPL = 20 log (P/Po)

– Po, is the reference pressure is the threshold of human

hearing (0.00002 Pa)
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 Adding Sound Pressure Level

• Since SPLs are based on a log scale, they cannot be added

directly

• Where: SPLT is the total sound pressure level, and SPLi is the
ith sound pressure level to be summed

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 Sound Measurement: Sound Intensity
- The intensity of a wave is the energy
transported per unit time across a
unit area.
- The human ear can detect sounds
with an intensity as low as 10−12
W/m2 and as high as 1 W/m2.
- In decibel,

I0 is reference level = 10-12 W/m2

- In open areas, the intensity of sound

diminishes with distance:
I (r) = Po/4π r2

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 The intensity of a wave in a free field drops off
as the inverse square of the distance from the
source.

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 Sample Problem

• Consider an idealized model with a bird (treated as a

point source) emitting constant sound power, with
intensity inversely proportional to the square of the
distance from the bird. By how may decibel does the
sound intensity drop when you move twice as far away
from the bird.
• The sound power level (without distance r) is the same
as the sound pressure level and the sound intensity
level at full sphere propagation (Q = 1) at a distance
from the sound source r = 0.2821 m. Consider 1 watt
of sound power. (Prove)
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 Sample Problem

• Consider an idealized model with a bird (treated as a

point source) emitting constant sound power, with
intensity inversely proportional to the square of the
distance from the bird. By how may decibel does the
sound intensity drop when you move twice as far away
from the bird.
• The sound power level (without distance r) is the same
as the sound pressure level and the sound intensity
level at full sphere propagation (Q = 1) at a distance
from the sound source r = 0.2821 m. Consider 1 watt
of sound power. (Prove)
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