ACOU S T I CS

• ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS MAY BE DEFINED AS THE TECHNOLOGY OF DESIGNING

SPACES, STRUCTURES, AND MECHANICAL SYSTEMS TO MEET HEARING NEEDS. WITH
PROPER DESIGN, "WANTED" SOUNDS CAN BE HEARD PROPERLY AND "UNWANTED"
SOUNDS OR "NOISE", CAN BE ATTENUATED TO THE POINT WHERE IT DOES NOT CAUSE
ANNOYANCE.
WHAT IS SOUND?
• SOUND IS A PHYSICAL WAVE, OR A MECHANICAL VIBRATION. OR SIMPLY A SERIES OF
PRESSURE VARIATIONS, IN AN ELASTIC MEDIUM. FOR AIRBORNE SOUND, THE MEDIUM IS
AIR. FOR STRUCTURE-BORNE SOUND THE MEDIUM IS CONCRETE, STEEL, WOOD, GLASS
AND COMBINATIONS OF ALL OF THESE.
• IN ARCHITECTURE, SOUND IS SIMPLY DEFINED AS AUDIBLE SIGNAL. THIS DOES NOT MEAN
THAT SUBSONIC OR SUPERSONIC SIGNALS ARE NOT SOUND, NOR DOES IT MEAN THAT WE
ARE TAKING A STAND ON THE EXISTENTIAL QUESTION -OF WHETHER UNHEARD SOUND
EXISTS. IT SIMPLY MEANS THAT THE SCIENCE OF ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS IS
CONCERNED WITH THE BUILDING OCCUPANTS, AND SOUNDS WHICH HE OR SHE CANNOT
DETECT ARE GENERALLY NOR OUR CONCERN.
• TO FURTHER CLEAR THE AIR, IT IS ALWAYS ASSUMED THAT THE HEARER HAS A PAIR
OF HEALTHY YOUNG EARS WITH A DETECTION RANGE OF 20 TO 20,000 HZ. WITH
THESE GIVENS, IT IS PROBABLY BEST TO VIEW SOUND AS A SERIES OF PRESSURE
VARIATIONS. IN AIR, THESE PRESSURE VARIATIONS TAKE THE FORM OF PERIODIC
COMPRESSIONS AND RAREFACTIONS. ·
PROPAGATION OF SOUND
• A FALLING TREE GENERATES SOUND. THIS IS A PHYSICAL DISTURBANCE, OR AN
ALTERATION OR PULSATION OF PRESSURE OF BEING DETECTED BY A NORMAL EAR BY
TRAVELING THROUGH AIR. IN ANY CASE, A MEDIUM POSSESING INERTIA AND
ELASTICITY IS NEEDED TO PROPAGATE IT. SOUND WAVES DO NOT TRAVEL THROUGH
A VACUUM.
• THE AUDITORY SENSATION PRODUCED BY SOUND WAVES WILL BE CALLED SOUND
SENSATION. THE CRASHING TREE PRODUCES A SOUND SENSATION ONLY WHEN AN
EAR HEARS IT.
VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION
• SOUND TRAVELS AT DIFFERENT VELOCITIES DEPENDING UPON THE MEDIUM. IN AIR,
AT SEA LEVEL, SOUND VELOCITY IS 344M/SEC OR 1130 FPS. THIS CORRESPONDS TO
770 MILES PER HOUR (MPH) OR 4 78 KILOMETERS PER HOUR (KMPH) - SLOW INDEED
WHEN COMPARED TO LIGHT AT 186,000 MILES PER SECOND. SINCE SOUND TRAVELS
NOT ONLY IN AIR BUT ALSO THROUGH PARTS OF THE STRUCTURE IT IS OF INTEREST
TO KNOW THE VELOCITIES IN OTHER MEDIA. SOUND TRAVELS MUCH FASTER IN
LIQUIDS AND SOLIDS THAN IT DOES IN AIR.
SPEED OF SOUND
• AS SOUND TRAVELS MUCH SLOWER THAN SPEED OF LIGHT, THE RESULTING DEFECTS IN
MANY ROOMS ARE ECHOES AND REVERBERATIONS. EXPERIMENTAL DATA SHOW THAT
WHEN THE REFLECTED SOUNDS WHICH REACH AN OBSERVER ARE DELAYED MORE THAN
ABOUT 0.058 SECOND, RELATIVE TO DIRECT SOUNDS, THEY ARE DISTINGUISHED AS
ECHOES. (SOUND TRAVELS APPROXIMATELY 65 FEET IN THIS TIME INTERVAL.)
REVERBERATION, AS MOST SIMPLY INTERPRTTTED, CONSISTS OF SUCCESSIVE
REFLECTIONS OF A SOUND IN A ROOM. AND SINCE SOUND TRAVELS ONLY ABOUT 1130
FEET OR 344 METERS PER SECOND THESE USUALLY WILL BE A RATHER LONG
SUCCESSION OF THESE REFLECTIONS BEFORE THE SOUND DIES AWAY TO INAUDIBILITY.
• FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES IN ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS, THE SPEED OF SOUND IS
INDEPENDENT OF FREQUENCY, INTENSITY, AND CHANGES IN ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE.
·TEMPERATURE DOES HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE SPEED, INCREASING IT ABOUT
1 . 1 FEET OR (3 CENTIMETERS) PER SECOND PER DEGREE FAHRENHEIT RISE IN
TEMPERATURE. THE DEPENDENCE OF THE SPEED OF SOUND ON TEMPERATURE IS ONE
OF THE PRIME CAUSES OF THE BENDING OF SOUND RAYS IN THE ATMOSPHERE. THIS
BENDING (REFRACTION) OF SOUND WAVES SOMETIMES AFFECTS THE DISTRIBUTION OF
SOUND REACHING AN AUDIENCE, ESPECIALLY IN OPEN-AIR THEATRES.
• THE TERM VELOCITY OF SOUND IS OFTEN USED INTERCHANGEABLY WITH SPEED OF
SOUND ALTHOUGH, STRICTLY SPEAKING, THE TWO ARE NOT THE SAME. VELOCITY
INCLUDES BOTH SPEED AND DIRECTION OF PROPAGATION; VELOCITY IS SPEED IN A
SPECIFIED DIRECTION; THAT IS VELOCITY IS A VECTOR QUANTITY. THE DIRECTION OF
PROPAGATION IS THE DIRECTION OF THE ADVANCE OF THE WAVE, DEFINED MORE
ACCURATELY BY THE PERPENDICULAR TO A WAVE FRONT (SURFACE OF CONSTANT
PHASE) OF THE ADVANCING WAVE.
FREQUENCY
• THE NUMBER OF TIMES THE CYCLE OF COMPRESSION AND RAREFACTION OF AIR (OR
TO AND FOR VIBRATIONS THAT THE SOURCE) MAKES IN A GIVEN UNIT OF TIME OR 1
SECOND IS DESCRIBED AS THE FREQUENCY OF A SOUND (OR VIBRATION). FOR
EXAMPLE, IF THERE ARE 1000 CYCLES IN ONE SECOND, THE FREQUENCY OF THE
SOUND IS 1000 CPS [1000 HERTZ (HZ)] IN THE STANDARD NOMENCLATURE. THUS, IN
THE FIGURE HIGHER FREQUENCIES WOUD BE SHOWN BY COMPRESSIONS AND
RAREFACTIONS THAT ARE CLOSER TOGETHER AND LOWER FREQUENCIES BY THOSE
THAT ARE FURTHER APART.
• HI SOUND. FREQUENCY IS OFTEN REFERRED TO BY A TERM BORROWED FROM
MUSICAL CONCEPTS - PITCH. THE HIGHER THE FREQUENCY THE HIGHER THE PITCH.
AND VICE VERSA. AS STATED, THE APPROXIMATE FREQUENCY RANGE OF A HEALTHY
YOUNG PERSON'S HEARING IS 20 TO 20,000 HZ. THIS UPPER LIMIT DECREASES WITH
AGE AS A RESULT OF A PROCESS CALLED PRESBYCUSIS. RECOGNITION OF THIS
PHENOMENON CAN BE OF IMPORTANCE TO SCHOOLS, SINCE VERY HIGH-PITCHED
SOUNDS THAT ARE INAUDIBLE TO MOST ADULTS, CAN BE A SOURCE OF EXTREME
ANNOYANCE TO STUDENTS.
• THE HUMAN SPEAKING VOICE HAS A RANGE OF APPROXIMATELY 100 TO 600HZ IN
FUNDAMENTALS, BUT HARMONICS (OVERTONES) REACH TO APPROXIMATETY 7500
HZ. MOST SPEECH INFORMATION. IS CARRIED IN THE UPPER FREQUENCIES WHILE
MOST ENERGY EXISTS IN THE LOWER FREQUENCIES WHILE MOST ENERGY EXISTS IN
THE LOWER FREQUENCIES. THE CRITICAL RANGE OF SPEECH COMMUNICATION IS 300
TO 4000 HZ. OVERTONES OUTSIDE THESE FREQUENCIES GIVE THE VOICE ITS
CHARACTERISTICS SOUND. AND SPECIFIC IDENTITY.
WAVELENGTH AND TYPES OF
PROPAGATION

• THE WAVELENGTH OF A SOUND MAY BE DEFINED AS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN

SIMILAR POINTS ON SUCCESSIVE WAVES OR THE DISTANCE THE SOUND TRAVELS IN
ONE CYCLE OF VIBRATION, THAT IS, IN 1/SECOND. IS CALLED ITS WAVELENGTH AND
IS DENOTED BY THE GREEK LETTER LAMBDA Λ . THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
WAVELENGTH, FREQUENCY, AND VELOCITY OF A SOUND IS EXPRESSED AS
• LOW-FREQUENCY SOUNDS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY LONG WAVELENGTHS AND HIGH-
FREQUENCY SOUNDS BY SHORT WAVELENGTHS. SOUNDS WITH WAVELENGTHS
RANGING FROM 1/2 INCH TO 50 FEET OR 1.25 CM TO 15.25 M CAN BE HEARD BY
HUMANS. A SIMPLE NOMOGRAPH IS SHOWN IN THE FIGURE, WHICH PERMITS RAPID
DETERMINATION OF WAVELENGTH GIVEN FREQUENCY, AND VICE VERSA.
WAVE FORM
• THE WAVE FORM OF SOUND WAVE DESCRIBES, BY MEANS OF A GRAPHICAL
REPRESENTATION, THE PRECISE NATURE OF A COMPLETE TO AND-FRO OSCILLATION
OF THE VIBRATING PARTICLES IN A SOUND FIELD. THUS BELOW IS A GRAPH OF THE
SIMPLE HARMONIC WAVE FORM OF THE SOUND GENERATED BY A GENTLY STRUCK
TUNING FORK; IT GIVES AS THE FUNCTION OF THE TIME THE INSTANTANEOUS
DISPLACEMENT (PLOTTED VERTICALLY) OF A TYPICAL VIBRATING PARTICLE. .
• EACH COMPLETE CYCLE IN THE SINE WAVE GRAPH CORRESPONDS TO A COMPLETE
CYCLE OF THE TUNING FORK OR OF THE SOUND WAVE IT GENERATES. ALTHOUGH
THE DISPLACEMENTS ARE REPRESENTED AS TRANSVERSE TO THE TIME AXIS, THE
ACTUAL DISPLACEMENTS OF THE PARTICLES IN THE SOUND FIELD ARE PARALLEL TO
THE DIRECTION OF PROPAGATION OF THE SOUND WAVE. THAT IS. THE WAVE MOTION
IS LONGITUDINAL
SOUND MAGNITUDE
• WHEN WE SPEAK OF SOUND MAGNITUDE, WE THINK OF LOUDNESS, WHICH IS A
SUBJECTIVE, EAR ORIENTED REACTION NOT LINEARLY RELATED TO THE PHYSICAL
QUANTITY OF SOUND. THE LEVEL (QUANTITY) OF SOUND PRESSURE, SOUND
PRESSURE LEVEL (SPL), SOUND INTENSITY, AND SOUND INTENSITY LEVEL (IL), ALL OF
WHICH ARE DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER, AND FROM SUBJECTIVE LOUDNESS. TO
CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THESE CONCEPTS, A COMPREHENSION OF HOW WE HEAR
AND HOW SOUND IS PROPAGATED IN FREE SPACE IS NECESSARY.
LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE
WAVES
WHAT ARE WAVES?

• A WAVE IS A PHENOMENON IN WHICH ENERGY IS TRANSFERRED THROUGH VIBRATION

 TRANSVERSE WAVE
• ARE WAVES WHICH TRAVEL IN A DIRECTION PERPENDICULAR TO THE DIRECTION OF
VIBRATION
EXAMPLES OF TRANSVERSE WAVES

• WATER WAVES
• ROPE WAVES
• LIGHT WAVES
• ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
LONGITUDINAL WAVES
• ARE WAVES WHICH TRAVEL IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE DIRECTION OF
VIBRATION
CHARACTERISTIC OF A WAVE
• CRESTS AND TROUGHS
• AMPLITUDE
• WAVELENGTH
• FREQUENCY
• PERIOD
• SPEED
CREST AND THROUGH
• CREST ARE HIGH POINT OF A WAVE
• THROUGH ARE LOW POINT OF A WAVE
 AMPLITUDE
• IS THE HEIGHT OF A CREST OR DEPTH OF A THROUGH MEASURED FROM THE NORMAL
UNDISTURBED POSITION

SI unit for Amplitude

-is measured in
meters(m)
WAVELENGTH
• IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO SUCCESSIVE CRESTS AND THROUGH
FREQUENCY (F)

• IS THE NUMBER OF VIBRATION IN ONE SECOND

• SI UNIT OF FREQUENCY IS HERTZ (HZ)
• 1 HZ IS EQUAL TO 1 CYCLE PER SECOND OR 1 VIBRATION IN 1 SECOND
PERIOD (T)

• IS THE TIME TAKEN FOR ONE COMPLETE VIBRATION

• IS MEASURED IN SECOND
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERIOD
AND FREQUENCY

• FREQUENCY IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO PERIOD

• F = 1/T
• T = 1/F
SPEED OF A WAVE

• IS THE DISTANCE MOVED IN ONE SECOND

• IS MEASURED IN M/S (METER PER SECOND)
INVERSE SQUARE LAW

• REFERS TO A PHYSICAL QUANTITY OR INTENSITY THAT IS INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL

TO THE SQUARE OF THE DISTANCE FROM THE SOURCE
• OR SIMPLY, AS THE DISTANCE FROM THE SOURCE INCREASES, THE STRENGTH OF THE
FIELD GOES DOWN REALLY FAST
• IN MATH, YOU TAKE THE DISTANCE FROM THE SOURCE, SQUARE IT THEN FIND THE
INVERSE OR THE RECIPROCAL AND YOU’RE DONE.
• IN THE REALM OF ACOUSTICS, THE INVERSE SQUARE LAW STATES THAT THE
INTENSITY OF SOUND DECREASES BY APPROXIMATELY 6 DB FOR EACH DOUBLING OF
DISTANCE FROM THE SOUND SOURCE. ... IF YOU DOUBLE THAT DISTANCE TO 4 FEET,
THE SOUND WILL DROP ANOTHER 6 DB, RESULTING IN A 12 DB LOSS FROM THE
ORIGINAL LEVEL.
•Here’s what each symbol represents:
•I = Intensity of sound
•P = Power of the source
•r = Distance between the source and the point of interest