BEHAVIOUR OF

SOUND
Sound behaviour
Consider a sound source situated within a
bounded space. Sound waves will propagate away
from the source until they encounter one of the
room's boundaries where, some of energy will be-
•Absorbed.
•Transmitted.
•The rest reflected back into the room.
This sets up a complex situation
where 3D pressure fluctuations bounce about a
room in much the same way as 2D ripples of
water in a bathtub.
 There are two types of sond wave –
 1. Direct.
 2. Indirect sound waves.

Direct sound waves- it travel directly from the sound source to

the receiving point itself. It does not depend on room shape and
material but dependant on distance between source and receiver.

Indirect sound waves- after the arrival of direct sound

reflection from room surface begins to arrive , these are indirect
sound waves. It independent of the source/receiver distance
but greatly dependant on room properties.
SOUND WAVES

 It Undergoes Certain Behaviors When The

Medium Ends ( Change In Medium)
 The Interface Between The Two Media Is

Referred As Boundary.
 Therefore This Behavior Of Sound Wave Is Also

Known As Boundary Behavior.

POSSIBLE BOUNDARY
BEHAVIORS
 REFLECTION
 DIFFRACTION
 TRANSMISSION
 REFRACTION
 ABSORPTION
REFLECTION
 When A Wave Reaches A Boundary, Some Portion
Of It Gets Reflected.
 The Amount Of Reflection Depends On The

Dissimilarity Of The Two Medium.

 A Hard Smooth Surface Reflects More Sound

Than A Soft Rough Surface.

 It Bounces Around Before It Decays Completely.
REFLECTION FROM REFLECTION FROM
A SMOOTH WALL A ROUGH SURFACE
EFFECT OF SHAPE OR FORM
 In A Perfectly Square Room, Decay Of Sound Is
Shorter.
 A Room With Unequal Wall Length Results In A

Smoother Decay.
 Curved Surfaces With A Parabolic Shape Has The

Habit Of Focusing Sound At A Point.

 A Faintest Whisper Of A Person Standing Across

The Room Can Be Heard On This Focal Point.

FOCUSSING OF SOUND BY A
CURVE SURFACE
PHENOMENON THAT OCCUR
DUE TO REFLECTION OF
SOUND WAVES
 REVERBERATION
 ECHO
REVERBERATION
……Prolonging Of A Sound
 When A Number Of Reflected Sound Reaches A
Listener That They Can’t Be Distinguished
Properly, Then It Is Termed As Reverberation.
 It Is Most Noticeable When The Sound Source

Stops And The Reflections Continue Decreasing In

Amplitude And Finally Die Out.
 Human Brain Keeps A Sound For 0.1 Seconds.
 The Reception Of Multiple Reflections Of Sound

From Wall Within 0.1 Sec Of Each Other Causes

Reveberation.
 ECHO……
 It Is Different From Reverberation.
 Echo Occurs When A Reflected Sound Reaches A

Listener More Than 0.1 Seconds After The Original

Sound Was Heard.
 Since The Speed Of Sound Is 343 M/S At Normal

Room Temperature, The Reflecting Object Must Be

More Than 16.2 M From The Sound Source For An
Echo To Be Heard.
 A True Echo Is A Single Reflection Of The Sound

Source.
 It is undesirable in theatres, halls, auditoriums,
The Clapping Sound Is Reflected
Back To The Source
DIFFRACTION
 It Is The Bending Of Sound Waves Around Small*
Obstacles And Spreading Out Of Waves Beyond
Small Openings.(* Small Compared To The
Wavelength)
 It Sheds Acoustical Energy Into Acoustical

Shadows( Areas Which Are Prevented From

Direct Incidence Of Sound As By An Obstacle)
 Example :- Noise In The Road Can Also Be Heard

In The Backyard Of A Building.

TRANSMISSION
 Sound Can Be Transmitted From The Source To
A Recipient Only Through A Medium Which Can
Be Compressed.
 The Vibration Of The Sound Source Causes

Density Variations In The Medium Which Move

Along In The Direction Of Propagation.
 These Variations Are Carried Forward Without

Significant Change Although Some Dissipation Is

Caused Due To The Friction Of The Air Itself.
 Most Usual Medium Of Sound Transmission Is

Air.
DENSITY VARIATION OF AIR
REFRACTION
 Bending of the sound waves when it enters a
medium where their speed is different.
 This bending is due to the difference in speed of

sound in media of different densities.

 Unlike other waves, sound travel faster in denser

medium.
 In denser medium, there are more number of

molecules to transmit the sound wave.

FROM LIGHTER TO DENSER
OPEN AIR REFRACTION

 In The Morning The Upper Layer (Cold Air) Has

A Greater Density Compared To The Lower Layer
(Warm Air) And So Sound Tends To Move
Upwards.
 In The Evening We Have The Opposite Situation

And The Denser Layer (Cold Air) Becomes The

Inferior One. This Causes Sound To Move
Downwards
ABSORPTION
 Everything Even Air Absorbs Sound.
 When A Sound Wave Strikes A Surface, Some

Energy Is Absorbed By The Surface And The Rest

Is Reflected, Refracted Or Transmitted.
 The Reflected Sound Bounces Around And Loses

Energy Till It Finally Decays Out.

 The Best Absorbing Material Is Full Of Holes That

Sound Waves Can Bounce Around In And Lose

Energy.
 The Energy Is Lost In The Form Of Heat.
Some Amount Of Energy Of The
Incident Sound Wave Is Absorbed
By The Obstacle.
INSULATION
 It Is Also Known As Acoustic Insulation, It Is The
Means Of Reducing The Intensity Of Sound.
 There Are Several Approaches For Reducing

Sound.
1. Increasing The Distance Between The Source
And The Recipient.
2. By Using Noise Barriers To Block Or Absorb
Sound Waves.
3. By Using Damping Structures.
4. By Using Active Anti Noise Sound Generators.
NOISE BARRIER
 It Is An External Structure Specially Designed To
Protect Sensitive Land Uses From Noise Pollution.
It Absorbs Sound Instead Of Transmitting It.
 It Is Effectively Used For Roadway, Railway,

Industrial Noise Sources.

 These Barriers Are Mostly Constructed With

Brick, Steel, Concrete, Wood, Plastic, Insulating

Wool Or Composites.
DAMPING
 It Is The Process By Which Sonic Vibrations Are
Converted Into Heat Over Time And Distance.
 These Can Be Achieved In Many Ways

a) Adding A Layer Or Layers Of Acoustic Materials

Over Walls, Ceilings, Floors Etc.
b) Use Of Different Layers Of Materials With
Different Densities Assists In Noise Damping.
MATERIALS

 Lead Or Neoprene
 Quite Rock

(Internally Damped
Dry Wall)
 Acoustic Foam
 Glass Wool
 RESONANCE
 It Is The Tendency Of A System To Absorb More
Energy When The Frequency Of Its Oscillation
Matches The System’s Natural Frequency Of
Vibration Than It Does At Other Frequencies.
 Acoustic Resonance Is Important For Hearing.
 Resonance Of A Stiff Structural Element (Basilar

Membrane) Within The Cochlea Of The Inner Ear

Allows Hairs On The Membrane To Detect Sound.
 Sometimes Acoustic Resonance Results In

Catastrophic Failure Of The Vibrator.

 Eg, Breaking Of A Wine Glass With Sound At The

Precise Resonant Frequency Of The Glass.

ROOM ACOUSTICS
 Every Enclosed Space Has A Different Effect On
Sound Which Is Known As “Acoustic Signature”
 Live Or Hard Room :- An Empty Room With

Hard Walls.
 It Is So Called Because Sound Can Easily Bounce

Around In It
 Dead Room :- A Room With Soft Furnishings, Soft

Draperies And Carpet.

 Sound Gets Absorbed Easily In A Dead Room.
LIVE OR HARD ROOM
 Amount Of Reflection Is More.
 Reverberation Is More.
 It Takes Several Seconds Before The Sound

Completely Dies Out.

 Less Absorption.
 Less Transmission.
 Example :- A Prolonged Sound That A Basketball

Makes In An Empty Gymnasium.

• REFLECTION • REFLECTION
FROM A FROM A
SMOOTH WALL ROUGH
SURFACE
DEAD ROOM
 Reflection is less.
 No reverberation.
 Absorption is more and quick.
 Example :- muffled sound inside of a closet full of

clothes.
 A dead room is undesirable for theatres ,

auditoriums, recording rooms etc.

Thank You
Submitted by-

Surabhi Kale
Shruti Nagdeve
Sneha Dewangan
Apoorva Agarwal
Rupal Agrawal