Mechanical Waves and

Sound
1. What is a wave?
2. What is the highest point on a
wave called?
3. What is reflection?
 Mechanical Waves
 A mechanical wave is a disturbance in matter
that carries energy from one place to another.
 Mechanical waves require matter to travel
through.
 The material through which a wave travels is
called a medium.
 A mechanical wave is created when a source
of energy causes a vibration to travel through a
medium.
 Types of Mechanical Waves
 The three main types of mechanical waves are
transverse waves, longitudinal waves, and
surface waves.
 A point on the wave vibrates up and down
between a maximum and minimum height.
 Transverse Waves
 A transverse wave is a wave that causes the
medium to vibrate at right angles to the
direction in which the wave travels.
 Transverse Waves
 The highest point of the wave above the rest
position is the crest.
 The lowest point below the rest position is the
trough.
 Longitudinal Waves
 A longitudinal wave is a wave in which the
vibration of the medium is parallel to the
direction the wave travels.
 An area where the particles in a medium are
spaced close together is called a compression.
 An area where the particles in a medium are
spread out is called a rarefaction.
 Surface Waves
 A surface wave is a wave that travels along a
surface separating two media.
 The motion of the particles is in a circle.
Sample Problem:
On your radio, you have an AM band
and an FM band.Suppose a station
broadcast on two radio frequencies: 630
kHz and 101.9 MHz on your radio dial.
The speed of radiowave in air is 3.0 x 108
m/s. Find the wavelength for each
frequency?
 Sound and Hearing
 Sound waves are longitudinal waves that travel
through a medium.
 Many behaviors of sound can be explained
using a few properties – speed, intensity and
loudness, and frequency and pitch.
 Speed
 In dry air at 20oC, the speed of sound is 342
m/s.
 In general, sound waves travel fastest in solids,
slower in liquids, and slowest in gases.
 This is due to the fact that particles in a solid
tend to be closer together than particles in a
liquid or a gas.
 Speed of sound waves
• The speed of sound
depends on the
characteristics of the
medium. Table 16.1 gives
some examples.

• The speed of sound:

v B
      (fluid)

v  Y      (solid rod)

v   RT      (ideal gas)
M
R=8.314 J/mol.K(Universal gas constant)
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Sample Problem:
Find the Young’s modulus for a bone
if its specific gravity is 2.0 and the
velocity of sound in the bone is 2.8 x 103
m/s.
Sample Problem:
What is the velocity of the wave in a
guitar string having a length of 0.65 m
and a mass of 3.5 g when subjected to a
tension of 250 N?
Standing Waves
A special case of interference happens
between two waves of same frequency,
same amplitude, in phase but traveling in
opposite direction.
Nodes are the regions where the
particles of the medium are not displaced
from equilibrium position.
Antinodes are the regions of maximum
displacement from the equilibrium
position
 Standing sound waves and normal modes
• The bottom figure shows displacement
nodes and antinodes.
• A pressure node is always a displace-
ment antinode, and a pressure antinode
is always a displacement node, as
shown in the figure at the right.

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Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.
 The Doppler effect
• The Doppler effect for sound is the shift in frequency when there is
motion of the source of sound, the listener, or both.
• Use Figure 16.27 below to follow the derivation of the frequency the
listener receives.
v  vL v  vL  v L 
fL    1   f S Stationary source, moving listener
 v / fS  v 
v  vL
fL  fS Moving source, moving listener
v  vS

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 Intensity and Loudness
 Intensity is the rate at which a wave’s energy flows
through a given area.
 Sound intensity depends on both the wave’s
amplitude and the distance from the sound source.
 The decibel (dB) is a unit that compares the
intensity of different sounds.
 Loudness is a physical

response to the intensity

of sound.
 The Doppler effect and frequencies
• Follow Example 16.15 using Figure 16.30 below to see
how the frequency of the sound is affected.

v  vL
fL  fS = 350/380 fS (lower freq)
v  vS

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 A moving listener
• Follow Example 16.16 using Figure 16.31 below to see
how the motion of the listener affects the frequency of
the sound.

v  vL
fL  fS = 320/350 fS (lower freq)
v  vS

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 A moving source and a moving listener
• Follow Example 16.17 using Figure 16.32 below to see
how the motion of both the listener and the source
affects the frequency of the sound.

v  vL
fL  fS = 365/395 fS (lower freq)
v  vS

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 A double Doppler shift
• Follow Example 16.18 using Figure 16.33 below.

v  vL
fL  fS = 350/320 fS (higher freq)
v  vS

v  vL
fL  fS = 380/350 fS (higher freq)
v  vS
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Seatwork:
3. A rope has a density of 7.5 g/cm3 and a
cross-sectional area of 2.0 cm2. When the
rope is subjected to a tension of 100 N,
and one end is vibrated up and down with
a frequency of 25 Hz, what is (a) velocity
of the transverse wave in the rope and (b)
wavelength in the rope?
Seatwork:
4. The wavelength and frequency of a
longitudinal wave in water are 2.92 m and
500 Hz, respectively. Find the adiabatic
bulk modulus of water.
Seatwork:
5. A string that is 2.24 m long and fixed
at both ends produces the standing wave
pattern as shown. (a) What is the
wavelength?(b)If the speed of sound in
this string is 5.75 m/s,What is the
frequency?(c) What is the tension in the
string if the string has a mass of 0.672 kg?
Seatwork:
6. A car is moving towards a vertical wall
with 10 m/s . The driver blows a horn of
frequency 400 Hz. What is the frequency
heard by the drivers?Vsound=340m/s
Seatwork:
7. A body emitting sound of frequency
350 Hz is dropped from a balloon rising
vertically upwards with constant velocity
5 m/s. What is the frequency of sound as
felt by the observer in the balloon 2 s after
the release? ( Velocity of sound in air is
335 m/s; acceleration due to gravity is 10
m/s2)