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Amogh verma Raj

Physics

9
Sound

Section - A: Direct/ regular/ inferential questions

1. Which statement about sound waves is correct?
A They are able to travel through a vacuum.
B They are able to travel through solids.
C They are transverse waves.
D They travel at the same speed in all substances.

2. The diagram shows the trace produced on a cathode-ray oscilloscope (c.r.o.) by a sound.

Which trace is produced when both the loudness and the pitch of the sound are increased?

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Sound 9

3. A sound wave travels from a point X to a point Y.

Which diagram represents the movement of the air molecules, due to the sound wave, in the
region between X and Y?

4. The speed of sound in air is 340 m / s. Which row gives typical values for the speed of
sound in a liquid and in a solid?

5. An echo-sounder on a ship produces a pulse of sound. The echo is received by the echo-
sounder after two seconds.

The speed of sound in sea-water is 1500 m / s. What is the depth of the sea-water below the
ship?
A 750 m B 1500 m C 3000 m D 6000 m

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6. A man is talking at the side of a house. He can be heard by a woman at the front of the
house even though she cannot see him.

What is the explanation for this?

A Sound waves are longitudinal and light waves are transverse.

B Sound waves are transverse and light waves are longitudinal.
C The sound waves have a long wavelength and the light waves have short wavelength.
D The sound waves have a short wavelength and the light waves have long wavelength.

7. A man stands 110 m from a high wall. He makes a short, sharp sound and then hears an
echo from the wall. The speed of sound in air is 330 m / s. How long after making the
sound does the man hear the echo?

A 0.33 s B 0.67 s C 1.5 s D 3.0 s

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Section - B: Application, reasoning & analytical questions

8. Fig. 8.1 shows four swimmers at the start of a race.

Fig. 11.1
(a) The swimmers start their race when they hear a loud, high-pitched sound from a
loudspeaker.

(i) Explain why sound travels at a different speed through water than through air.

Sound travels faster in water compared with air because water particles are
………………………………………………………………………………………………
packed in more densely. Thus, the energy the sound waves carry is
transported faster in water then compared to air.
………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

(ii) Fig. 8.2 shows the trace of a sound wave as it appears on an oscilloscope screen.

On Fig. 8.2 draw another trace of a sound wave from a sound that is louder than
the one shown, but has the same pitch.

Fig.8.2

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9. Fig. given below shows a girl standing a few hundred metres in front of a large building.

The girl uses a signal generator and a loudspeaker to send a short pulse of sound towards the
building. The sound has a frequency of 3700 Hz. A short time later, the girl hears an echo.
(a) State what is meant by the term echo.
..................................................................................................................................................
An echo is a repetition or imitation of sound. When sound waves hit a hard
surface they reflect, making the sound bounce and repeat.
..................................................................................................................................................
(b) The pitch of the echo is the same as that of the original sound but the echo is not as loud.
State what has happened to
(i) the amplitude of the sound wave,
decreases
..................................................................................................................................................
(ii) the frequency of the sound wave.
remains same
..................................................................................................................................................

(c) The speed of sound in air is 330 m / s.

Calculate the wavelength of this sound.

wavelength = 0.89 m

wavelength = ...................................................

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Section - C: HOTS questions (Higher Order Thinking Skills

10. The figure given below shows cone of a loudspeaker that is producing sound waves in air. At
any given moment a series of compression and rarefactions exist along line XY.

(a) State what is meant by a compression.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…
It is an area of high density and pressure in the direction of a wave propagating

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(b) State what is meant by a rarefaction.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
It is an area of low density and pressure in the direction of a wave propagating

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(c) Use letter C to mark 3 compressions and letter R to mark 3 rarefactions along XY.

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11. A loudspeaker produces a sound of frequency 2.0 kHz. The wavelength of this sound in air
is 16 cm.

(i) Calculate the speed of sound in air.

speed = 2000 x 16
=3200 cm/sec

speed = ...........................................................

(ii) 1. State the range of frequencies that can be heard by a healthy human ear.
20 Hz to 20 KHz
..........................................................................................................................................

2. Calculate the smallest wavelength of sound that can be heard by a healthy human
ear.

wavelength =16 m

wavelength = ...........................................................

(iii) Describe a simple experiment to show that sound waves obey the law of reflection.
You may draw a diagram if you wish.

...........................................................................................................................................
- go to cliff area and produce a sound (scream) in front of the wall of the cliff

- wait for few seconds and you will hear a second sound (echo)
...........................................................................................................................................
- this second sound is the reflection of the first sound as it bounces of the wall of the cliff.
...........................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................

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Blue sound wave

- incident wave

red sound wave

- reflected wave
Cave wall

Source: CIE Teacher Support

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