Sound

 Sound is a form of energy which produces the sensation of hearing.

 Sound requires a medium to travel. It cannot travel in vacuum.
 Sound travels in all directions. Sound can travel through solids, liquids and gases.
 Sound travels faster in solids than in liquids and gases.
 The loudness of sound is measured on a special scale called the decibel scale.
 Sound is classified into two groups. (i) Musical sound, (ii) Noise.
 Musical sound is produced by periodic vibrations.
 Noise is produced by non-periodic motions.
 Music is pleasant to hear and is caused by periodic vibrations.
 Noise is irritating and is produced by an irregular pattern of waves.
 The three characteristics of sound are loudness, pitch, quality or timbre.
 Loudness depends upon many factors, e.g. amplitude, distance, waves of vibrating body,
humidity, pressure, wind velocity etc.
 Pitch depends on the frequency of sound. Higher is the pitch, shriller is the sound.
 Loudness is merely a sensation.
 Light
1. What is light?
Light is a radiation or a form of energy that our eyes can detect. Light enables us to view our
surroundings. Light travels from one place to another in a straight line.

2. Light always travels in straight line

For instance, if you look at the flame of a candle with a straight pipe we can easily
view the candle. However, if we bend the pipe we cannot view the candle and the
light coming through it because it is blocked.

3.

4. The Laws of Reflection of Light

 Incident Ray - The light ray that falls on the reflecting surface is called
an Incident Ray.
  Reflected Ray –Tthe light ray that gets reflected back from a reflecting surface is
called a Reflected Ray.
 Normal - It is a line that is perpendicular to the reflected plane at the point of
incidence of Incident Ray .

5. Types of Reflection
Depending upon the surface of the reflecting object, the reflection of light can vary.

 Diffused Reflection or Irregular Reflection: In this type of reflection, the light

rays that fall on the surface are reflected back in different directions irregularly.
This generally happens in the case of an irregular or roughly surfaced object.
 Regular Reflection: In this type of reflection, the light rays that fall on the surface
of the reflecting object reflect back in a particular direction. The reflected rays are
always parallel to each other. This generally happens in case of a smooth and shiny
surface.

6. When a ray of light, propagating (along a straight line) in one transparent medium, enters
another transparent medium, it is observed to (usually) change its direction of propagation, or
to 'bend its path. This observation is due to the phenomenon known as 'refraction of light'.
Such observations are basically due to a change in the speed of light as it goes from one
medium to another.We usually regard Refraction as the phenomenon in which a ray of light,
propagating obliquely in one (transparent) medium, changes its direction of propagation (or
bends its path) when it goes into another (different transparent) medium.
It is possible to observe refraction through a 'set-up' of the type described below.

Activity 1

 Take two coins.

 Place one coin at the bottom of a beaker and the another alongside the beaker.
 Now, half fill the beaker with water.
 Next observe the two coins by looking vertically downwards from the beaker.

What do you observe about the position of the coin in the beaker compared with the coin kept
alongside the beaker?

The coin in the beaker appears to be 'raised up' with respect to the coin alongside the beaker.

Activity 2

 Dip a pencil in a glass of water at about 45° to the surface of the glass.
 Examine the appearance of the pencil when viewed at an angle to the surface of the glass.

What do you observe about the appearance and shape of the pencil?

The pencil appears 'bent' near the surface of water.

 All these activities (and many other similar phenomenon) can be easily understood in terms of
refraction of light.
 The phenomenon of bending of a light ray, when it goes (obliquely) from one transparent
medium to another, is 'refraction of light'.
 The phenomenon of refraction is related to many day to day effects in our life.

7. Cause of 'Refraction' of Light

The speed of light is different in different media. In vacuum, light propagates at a speed of (nearly)
3×108 m/s (3 lakh kilometres per second). However, when its enters any other transparent medium, its
speed decreases.
 It is this change in speed of light that causes a light ray to bend when its goes from one
medium to another.
 Thus the bending of light rays is basically due to a change in the speed of light when it goes
from one medium to another.