Propagation of Sound Waves

Sound is produced when something vibrates. The vibrating body causes the medium (water, air,
etc.) around it to vibrate. Vibrations in the air are called travelling longitudinal waves, which we
can hear. Sound waves consist of areas of high and low pressure called compressions and
rarefactions, respectively.
How is sound produced?
Sound is produced because of the vibration of any object. In other words, when an object
is vibrated it produces sound
Examples:
1. Sound can be produced by clapping of palms
2. Sound can be produced by vibrating a string.
3. Sound can be produced by beating a table or diaphragm of a drum.
Propagation of Sound:
Sound is propagated by means of longitudinal waves through an elastic medium.
Sound travels through gases, liquids and solids. The speed of sound is the maximum in
solids, less in liquids and the least in gases.
Sound cannot travel through vacuum because there are no particles to exhibit the properties
of elasticity and inertia in vacuum.
Sound waves:
Sound waves are longitudinal waves. In longitudinal waves, particles of the medium
vibrate parallel to the direction of propagation of the waves.
Wavelength (  ):
It is the distance between two consecutive compressions or two consecutive rarefactions
in longitudinal waves.
The SI unit of wavelength is meter (m).
Time period (T):
It is the time interval between two consecutive compressions or two consecutive
rarefactions in longitudinal waves.
Amplitude:
The magnitude of the maximum disturbance in the medium on either side of the mean value
is called the amplitude (A) of the wave.
Frequency:
The number of complete oscillations per second is called the frequency of oscillation.
The SI unit is Hz (Hertz).
Velocity (Speed):
Distance covered by sound wave in unit time is called the velocity of sound wave.
Pitch:
The frequency of vibration determines the shrillness or pitch of a sound. If the frequency
of vibration is higher, we say that the sound is shrill and has a higher frequency. If the
frequency of vibration is lower, we say that the sound has a lower pitch.
Loudness:
Loudness of sound is proportional to the square of the amplitude of the vibration producing
the sound.
When the amplitude of vibration is large, the sound produced is loud and when the
amplitude is small, the sound produced is feeble.
Loudness is expressed in a unit called decibel. Its symbol is dB.
Speed of sound:
Speed of the sound waves is the ratio of distance to time. It is denoted by the letter ‘v’
The speed of a sound wave depends on the properties of the medium through which it
propagates.
When an object travels at a speed greater than the speed of sound in air, it is said to be
travelling with a supersonic speed. Enormous energy is produced when an object travels at
a supersonic speed. This energy is propagated as a sharp and loud sound, called a sonic
boom.
Speed of sound in air is about 343 meters per second.
Speed of sound in different media:
1. The speed of sound depends on the properties of the medium through which it travels.
2. The speed of sound in a medium depends also on temperature and pressure of the
medium.
3. The speed of sound decreases when we go from solid to gaseous state.
4. In any medium as we increase the temperature the speed of sound increases.
When a sound wave is incident on a solid or liquid surface, it bounces back onto the same medium.
This is known as the reflection of sound. Like light, sound too undergoes reflection from any hard
surface and obeys the same laws of reflection, which light obeys.
Echo:
 An echo is the repetition of sound that results as a reflection from a surface.
For example, if we shout or clap near a suitable reflecting object such as a tall building or
a mountain, we will hear the same sound again a little later.
 The sensation of sound persists in our brain for about 0.1 s.
 For hearing distinct echoes, the minimum distance of the obstacle from the source of sound
must be 17.2 m. This distance will change with the temperature of air.
Reverberation:
The persistence of sound in big enclosures like auditoriums is the result of repeated
reflections of sound and is called reverberation.
Uses of multiple reflection of sound: -
1. Stethoscope.
2. Megaphones.
3. Horns.
4. Trumpets.
Range of hearing:
 A human ear can hear sounds with a frequency of 20 hertz to 20000 hertz. This range of
frequency is called the audible range. The audible range for different species is different.
 Children under the age of five and some animals, such as dogs can hear up to 25 kHz.
 Sounds of frequencies below 20 Hz are called infrasonic sound or infrasound.
 Frequencies higher than 20 kHz are called ultrasonic sound or ultrasound.
Applications of ultrasound:
 Ultrasound is generally used to clean parts located in hard-to-reach places, for example,
spiral tube, odd shaped parts, electronic components etc.
 Ultrasounds can be used to detect cracks and flaws in metal blocks.
 Ultrasonic waves are made to reflect from various parts of the heart and form the image of
the heart, this technique is called ‘echocardiography’
Sonar:
The acronym SONAR stands for Sound Navigation and Ranging. Sonar is a device that uses
ultrasonic waves to measure the distance, direction and speed of underwater objects. It uses the
method called echo-ranging, for determining the depth of the sea and to locate underwater hills,
valleys, submarine, icebergs, sunken ship etc.
Distance travelled by the ultrasound is: 2𝑑 = 𝑣 × 𝑡
Here v is the speed of sound and t is the time interval between transmission and reception of
ultrasound signal.