Sound Intensity and

Resonance

Chapter 12, Section 2

Pages 410 - 416
 Volume vs. Pitch
• Volume: how loud or soft a sound is: related to energy; the more the energy,
the higher the amplitude, the louder the sound and the farther away you
can hear it
• Pitch: how high or low a sound is: related to frequency; the higher the pitch
the higher the frequency, the smaller the wavelength
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMLTF_0PAQw
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WIDhLeryWM
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjvuiOSo3ow
 How pianos work
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDvS2V7HbnY

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6effL4ATZVo
• In a nutshell:

strings vibrate energy is transferred to a sound board causes force on the

air molecules producing sound waves
 Intensity
• 
• Is the rate at which energy flows through a unit area; how much energy is

carried in a specific area

• Power (P) is the rate of energy transfer

• Intensity = (W/m2 OR dB)

• Intensity and distance are inversely proportional

 Range of Audibility of an average
human ear
• Frequency of hearing: 20-20,000 Hz

• At each frequency, there are specific

intensities at which the human ear can hear

• Threshold of hearing: level below which the

ear cannot hear

• Threshold of pain: intensities > 1 W/m2

 Decibels
• Relative intensity: is the ratio of the intensity of a sound to the intensity at the
threshold of hearing

• The relationship between loudness and intensity is logarithmic: if I is the

intensity of one sound (I) and I0 is that of another, then the intensity ratio of B

= log10 (I/I0)

• Decibels: dimensionless unit that describes the ration of 2 intensities

 Sympathetic Vibrations
If a set of pendulums are suspended from
the same beam and are bound by a loose
rubber band, when one pendulum
vibrates, the others will vibrate as well.

Sympathetic vibrations: forced vibrations

in which an object vibrates due to a
transfer of energy
 Resonance
• Natural frequency: the frequency at which an object
naturally vibrates at.

• Each object has a specific natural frequency

• Resonance: a phenomenon in which the frequency

of a forced vibration matches the natural frequency,
thus allowing the object ot vibrate as well

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIgQrHW53Lw

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mclp9QmCGs
 The Human Ear
• Made up 3 main sections: outer, middle and inner ear

• Sound waves travel through the ear canal to the eardrum

• The eardrum vibrates, energy is transferred to the anvil,

hammer and stirrup, which then transfer the energy to the
cochlea

• The basilar membrane has different natural frequencies, which

then create impulses to the nervous system

• The brain interprets the different sounds