Sound Energy

What is sound?
Sound

is

A form of energy made by vibrations.

When an object vibrates it causes the air particles

around it to move.

These particles bump into particles close to them

and this continues until they run out of energy.

Try this:
Put

your finger on your neck and say aah

as loud as you can.

Now
You

say it as soft as you can.

can not only hear the sound, but you can

feel the vibration inside your throat.

How does sound travel?

Sound

travels through all forms of matter

gases, liquids and solid.

These

are called the medium.

Sound

cannot travel through a vacuum.

What is pitch?
Pitch

is how high or how low a sound is.

This

is a high pitched sound.

This

is a low pitched sound.

How does sound travel?

Sound

passes through the medium as

longitudinal waves.
When the vibrations are fast you hear a
high pitch. When theyre slow, you hear a
low pitch.

High Pitch

Low Pitch

How else can we change sound?

We

can make it louder or softer by changing

the amplitude of the height of the wave.
The higher the amplitude, the louder the
sound. The lower the amplitude the softer
the sound.
Louder

Softer

How do musical instruments create

sound?
It

depends on the type of instrument. There

are four types.

Woodwind
String
Percussion
Brass

Woodwinds Instruments
Woodwinds

make music by blowing on the

top of the instrument or on a reed.

Clarinet
Bassoon
Oboe
Flute
Piccolo

String Instruments
Strings

make music by plucking or

strumming the strings.

Cello

Guitar

Harp

Violin
Electric
Guitar

Percussion Instruments
Percussion

instruments make music by

striking, shaking or scraping them.

Tambourine

Piano

Drum

Cymbals

Xylophone

Maracas

Brass Instruments
Brass

instruments make music by buzzing

lips while blowing.
Trombone

French Horn
Tuba

Trumpet

Did you know?

Sound

travels 4 times faster through water

than through air.

There

is no sound in space.

Geologists

use their knowledge of how sound

travels through rocks to help them find oil
fields.