Notes for the chapter Sound

Short answer type I

1.How is sound produced?

ANSWER:

Sound is produced by vibration. For example, when a guitar string is plucked, sound is
produced due to vibrations produced in the string.

2. Distinguish between infrasonic and ultrasonics.

ANSWER:

Infrasonic Ultrasonics

Sound waves with frequency less Sound waves with frequency greater
than 20 Hz are called infrasonic. than 20000 Hz are called ultrasonics.

3. What do you mean by time period of a vibrating object?

ANSWER:

The time taken by an object to complete one oscillation is called time period of the vibrating
object.

4. What is the 'amplitude' of a vibrating object?

ANSWER:

Amplitude is the distance covered by a vibrating object from its mean/zero position.

5. What is the 'frequency' of a vibrating object? How is it related to shrillness of sound?

ANSWER:

Number of oscillations completed by a vibrating object per second is called frequency.

Shrillness of sound is directly dependent on frequency. Higher the frequency of vibration
more is the shrillness of sound

.
6. Why do women have shriller voices than men?
ANSWER:

Women have shriller voices than men because the sound produced by women is of higher
frequency than that produced by men.

Short answer type II

1. How does loudness of sound depend on amplitude? If the amplitude is tripled, by how
much does loudness increase?
ANSWER:

Loudness of sound is proportional to the square of amplitude.

If the amplitude is tripled, the loudness increases by nine times.

2. Ramesh measured the time gap between lightning and thunder to be 3 seconds.
Assuming light covers the distance instantly, what is the distance of the clouds from
Ramesh?
ANSWER:

3. Why can an echo not be heard if you stand 10 m away from a wall and shout facing it?
ANSWER:

We cannot hear the echo because the time difference between the original sound and
reflected sound will be less than 1/10th of a second. So, we are not able to distinguish
between the two sounds.

4. How is sound produced in our throat?

ANSWER:

Sound, in our throat is produced in the larynx by the vibration of two vocal cords when air
passes through the opening between the vocal cords.
5. Name the three types of musical instruments. How is sound produced in each type?
ANSWER:

The three types of musical instruments are:

1. Stringed instruments: They produce sounds using vibrations generated in metal

wires fixed at both ends. For example: guitar.
2. Wind instruments: They produce sounds using vibrations in an air column trapped in
a hollow structure. For example: flute.
3. Percussion instruments: They produce sounds using vibrations in a stretched
membrane to produce sound. For example: drum.

6. What do you mean by noise pollution? What are the main causes of noise pollution?
ANSWER:

Any sound produced by irregular vibrations is called noise. Too much noise in our
surroundings is harmful to us and is called noise pollution. Loud music, traffic on roads,
machines in factories, mixers and grinders, etc. are major causes of noise pollution.

7. List four ill effects of noise pollution.

ANSWER:

Four ill effects of noise pollution are:

1. Exposure to sudden high noise level (e.g. explosion) can cause permanent hearing
loss due to rupture of the ear drum.
2. Prolonged exposure to noise of volume higher than 70 dB can cause permanent
hearing loss.
3. High noise can lead to nervous tension and increase in blood pressure.
4. Noise pollution can lead to sleep deprivation and headaches.

8. List three methods of controlling noise pollution.

ANSWER:
Three methods of controlling noise pollution are:
1. Reducing noise emissions by developing low-noise products, such as better
silencers for automobiles.
2. Controlling recreational noise, such as those of loudspeakers.
3. Making screens or enclosures around machinery to obstruct the path of noise.

Long answer questions

1. Explain quality of sound. How is it determined?

ANSWER:

Quality of sound is the characteristic that allows us to distinguish sounds from two different
sources even though the sound produced by them has same frequency and loudness. This
happens because with every single frequency, called fundamental frequency, many other
frequencies, known as harmonics, are also generated with differing loudness.

The quality of sound is determined by the frequencies present in it and their relative
loudness.

2. Explain how sound produced by a vibrating object reaches your ears. What happens after
it enters the ears?
ANSWER:

A vibrating object causes air molecules to vibrate. When these vibrations reach our ears,
they are collected by the pinnae and funnelled into the ear tube. These vibrations strike the
eardrum, which starts to vibrate at the same frequency. This causes the delicate bones of
the middle ear to vibrate. This stimulates tiny hair in the hearing organ that sends a signal to
the auditory nerve of our nervous system. The auditory nerve takes the signal to the brain
and we can hear the sound.

3.Describe an experiment to show that sound can travel through liquids.

ANSWER:

Hold a bell in one hand and dip it in water. Now bend till your ear touches the surface of
water (caution: water should not enter the ear). On ringing the bell you will hear a clear
sound. This shows that sound can travel in liquids.

4.Describe an experiment to show that sound cannot travel through vacuum.

ANSWER:

Take a container with a tightly held lid. Make a hole at the bottom of the container. Now,
connect a vacuum pump to this hole with a rubber tube. Make sure that there is no gap
between hole and tube. The vacuum pump is used to extract air from the container.
Put a cell phone inside the container and close it with the lid. Now call the number of the cell
phone so that it rings. We can hear the sound clearly. Extract the air from the container by
switching on the vacuum pump. Again, call the number of the cell phone. This time no
sound is heard because there is no air (medium) to help the propagation of sound. This
experiment shows that sound cannot travel through vacuum.