What Is Sound?

A sound is a vibration that propagates through a medium in the form of a mechanical wave.
The medium in which it propagates can either be a solid, a liquid or a gas. Sound travels
fastest in solids, relatively slower in liquids and slowest in gases.

In physics, the sound is defined as

A vibration that propagates as an audible wave of pressure, through a medium such as a

gas, liquid or solid.

What is a Soundwave?
A sound wave is the pattern of disturbance caused by the energy travelling away from the
source of the sound. Sound waves are longitudinal waves. This means that the propagation
of vibration of particles is parallel to the energy wave propagation direction. When the
atoms are set in vibration they move back and forth. This continuous back and forth motion
results in a high-pressure and a low-pressure region in the medium. These high- pressure
and low-pressure regions are termed compressions and rarefactions, respectively. These
regions are transported to the surrounding medium resulting in the sound waves travelling
from one medium to another.

How is Sound Produced?

Sound is produced when an object vibrates, creating a pressure wave. This pressure wave
causes particles in the surrounding medium (air, water, or solid) to have vibrational motion.
As the particles vibrate, they move nearby particles, transmitting the sound further through
the medium. The human ear detects sound waves when vibrating air particles vibrate small
parts within the ear.

In many ways, sound waves are similar to light waves. They both originate from a definite
source and can be distributed or scattered using various means. Unlike light, sound waves
can only travel through a medium, such as air, glass, or metal. This means there’s no sound
in space!
Nature Of Sound
The sound produced by a guitar is different from the sound produced by a drum. This is
because the sound produced by different sources have different characteristics. Sound can
be characterized by its frequency, wavelength, and amplitude.

• Frequency of sound
The number of rarefactions and compressions that occur per unit time is known as the
frequency of a sound wave. F= 1/T

Where,

• f is the frequency of a sound wave and

• T is the time period.

• Wavelength of sound
The distance between the successive compression and rarefaction is known as the
wavelength of a sound wave.

λ = v/f
Where, f is the frequency of the sound wave and v is the velocity of the sound wave.
Types of Sound
There are many different types of sound including, audible, inaudible, unpleasant, pleasant,
soft, loud, noise and music. You’re likely to find the sounds produced by a piano player soft,
audible, and musical. And while the sound of road construction early on Saturday morning
is also audible, it certainly isn’t pleasant or soft. Other sounds, such as a dog whistle, are
inaudible to the human ear. This is because dog whistles produce sound waves that are
below the human hearing range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Waves below 20 Hz are called
infrasonic waves (infrasound), while higher frequencies above 20,000 Hz are known as
ultrasonic waves (ultrasound).

Infrasonic Waves (Infrasound)

Infrasonic waves have frequencies below 20 Hz, which makes them inaudible to the human
ear. Scientists use infrasound to detect earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, to map rock
and petroleum formations underground, and to study activity in the human heart. Despite
our inability to hear infrasound, many animals use infrasonic waves to communicate in
nature. Whales, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, elephants, and alligators all use infrasound to
communicate across impressive distances – sometimes hundreds of miles!
Ultrasonic Waves (Ultrasound)
Sound waves that have frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz produce ultrasound. Because
ultrasound occurs at frequencies outside the human hearing range, it is inaudible to the
human ear. Ultrasound is most often used by medical specialists who use sonograms to
examine their patients’ internal organs. Some lesser-known applications of ultrasound
include navigation, imaging, sample mixing, communication, and testing. In nature, bats
emit ultrasonic waves to locate prey and avoid obstacles.

Amplitude of sound
The amplitude of the sound is the magnitude of the maximum disturbance in a sound wave.
The amplitude is also a measure of energy. Higher the amplitude higher the energy in a
sound wave. Humans can hear a limited range of frequencies of sound. Physicists have
identified the audio frequency spectrum of the human ear to be between 20 Hz and 20,000
Hz. Under ideal laboratory conditions, the human ear can detect frequencies that are as low
as 12 Hz and as high as 20,000 Hz.
Speed of Sound
The speed at which sound waves propagate through a medium is known as the speed of
sound. The speed of sound is different in different media. The speed of sound is highest in
solids because the atoms in solid are highly compressed. The interaction between atoms in
a particle is highly dependent on the distance between them. Higher the interaction
between the atoms, the quicker the energy is transferred. As the interaction of the particles
in solids is high, the speed of sound is faster than liquids and gases. The table below lists the
speed of sound in different media.

S = D/T

Where,

• d is the distance traveled by sound

• t is the time taken to cover the distance.

Medium Speed of sound

Water 1481 m/s

Air 343.2 m/s

Copper 4600 m/s

Hydrogen 1270 m/s

Glass 4540 m/s

4 Properties of Sound
What makes music different from noise? A bird’s call is more melodic than a car alarm. And,
we can usually tell the difference between ambulance and police sirens - but how do we do
this? We use the four properties of sound: pitch, dynamics (loudness or softness), timbre
(tone color), and duration.

Frequency (Pitch)
Pitch is the quality that enables us to judge sounds as being “higher” and “lower. It provides
a method for organizing sounds based on a frequency-based scale. Pitch can be interpreted
as the musical term for frequency, though they are not exactly the same. A high-pitched
sound causes molecules to rapidly oscillate, while a low-pitched sound causes slower
oscillation. Pitch can only be determined when a sound has a frequency that is clear and
consistent enough to differentiate it from noise. Because pitch is primarily based on a
listener’s perception, it is not an objective physical property of sound.

Amplitude (Dynamics)
The amplitude of a sound wave determines it relative loudness. In music, the loudness of a
note is called its dynamic level. In physics, we measure the amplitude of sound waves in
decibels (dB), which do not correspond with dynamic levels. Higher amplitudes correspond
with louder sounds, while shorter amplitudes correspond with quieter sounds. Despite this,
studies have shown that humans perceive sounds at very low and very high frequencies to
be softer than sounds in the middle frequencies, even when they have the same amplitude.

Timbre (Tone Color)

Timbre refers to the tone color, or “feel” of the sound. Sounds with various timbres
produce different wave shapes, which affect our interpretation of the sound. The sound
produced by a piano has a different tone color than the sound from a guitar. In physics, we
refer to this as the timbre of a sound. It’s what allows humans to quickly identify sounds
(e.g. a cat’s meow, running water, the sound of a friend’s voice).

Duration (Tempo/Rhythm)
In music, duration is the amount of time that a pitch, or tone, lasts. They can be described
as long, short, or as taking some amount of time. The duration of a note or tone influences
the timbre and rhythm of a sound. A classical piano piece will tend to have notes with a
longer duration than the notes played by a keyboardist at a pop concert. In physics, the
duration of a sound or tone begins once the sound registers and ends after it cannot be
detected.
What Makes Sound Music or Noise?
Acousticians, or scientists who study sound acoustics, have studied how different sound
types, primarily noise and music, affect humans. Randomized, unpleasant sound waves are
often referred to as noise. Alternatively, constructed patterns of sound waves are known as
music. Studies have shown that the human body responds differently to noise and music,
which may explain why road construction on a Saturday morning makes us more tense than
a pianist’s song.