Module I

Introduction to Sound

Everyday your world is filled with a multitude of sounds. Sound can let you communicate with others
or let others communicate with you. It can be a warning of danger or simply an enjoyable
experience. Some sounds can be heard by dogs or other animals but cannot be heard by humans.

Sound and Vibration

What is sound and how does it travel?

All of the sounds you can hear from a computer occur because mechanical energy produced by your
computer speaker was transferred to your ear through the movement of atomic particles. Sound is a
pressure disturbance that moves through a medium in the form of mechanical waves. When a force
is exerted on an atom, it moves from its rest or equilibrium position and exerts a force on the
adjacent particles. These adjacent particles are moved from their rest position and this continues
throughout the medium. This transfer of energy from one particle to the next is how sound travels
through a medium. The words "mechanical wave" are used to describe the distribution of energy
through a medium by the transfer of energy from one particle to the next.

Waves of sound energy move outward in all directions from the source. Your vocal chords and the
strings on a guitar are both sources which vibrate to produce sound waves. Without energy, there
would be no sound.

What do waves consist of?

Sound or pressure waves are made up of compressions and rarefactions. Compression happens
when particles are forced, or pressed, together. Rarefaction is just the opposite, it occurs when
particles are given extra space and allowed to expand. Remember that sound is a type of kinetic
energy. As the particles are moved from their rest position, they exert a force of the adjacent
particles and pass the kinetic energy. Thus sound energy travels outward from the source.

Sound travels through air, water, or a block of steel; thus, all are mediums for sound. Without a
medium there are no particles to carry the sound waves. The word "particle" suggests a tiny
concentration of matter capable of transmitting energy. A particle could be an atom or molecule. In
places like space, where there is no atmosphere, there are too few atomic particles to transfer the
sound energy.

To produce sound, a thin surfaced cone, called a diaphragm, is caused to vibrate using
electromagnetic energy. When the diaphragm moves to the right, its energy pushes the air
molecules on the right together, opening up space for the molecules on the left to move into. We
call the molecules on the right compressed and the molecules on the left rarefied. When the
diaphragm moves to the left, the opposite happens. Now, the molecules to the left become
compressed and the molecules to the right are rarefied. These alternating compressions and
rarefactions produce a wave. One compression and one rarefaction is called a wavelength. Different
sounds have different wavelengths.
Fig 1 – Sound pattern produced by a speaker

Compression and Rarefaction

Compression and rarefaction are terms defining the molecules near the diaphragm. Compression is
the point when the most force is being applied to a molecule and rarefaction is the point when the
least force is applied. It is important to note that when a molecule to the right of the diaphragm is
experiencing compression, a molecule to the diaphragm's left is experiencing rarefaction. For right
side molecules, compression occurs when the diaphragm is in its original position, moving towards
the right. This is where the molecule experiences the most force. Rarefaction happens when the
diaphragm is once again in the center, this time moving towards the left. At this point, the molecule
is experiencing the least force. Of course, this is the opposite for molecules to the diaphragm's left.

Different types of waves

As the diaphragm vibrates back and forth, the sound waves produced move the same direction (left
and right). Waves that travel in the same direction as the particle movement are called longitudinal
waves. Longitudinal sound waves are the easiest to produce and have the highest speed. However, it
is possible to produce other types. Waves which move perpendicular to the direction particle
movement are called shear waves or transverse waves. Shear waves travel at slower speeds than
longitudinal waves, and can only be made in solids. Think of a stretched out slinky, you can create a
longitudinal wave by quickly pushing and pulling one end of the slinky. This causes longitudinal
waves for form and propagate to the other end. A shear wave can be created by taking one end of
the slinky and moving it up and down. This generates a wave that moves up and down as it travels
the length of the slinky.

Another type of wave is the surface wave. Surface waves travel at the surface of a material with the
particles move in elliptical orbits. They are slightly slower than shear waves and fairly difficult to
make. A final type of sound wave is the plate wave. The particles of these waves also move in
elliptical orbits but plate waves can only be created in very thin pieces of material.