SOUND

1. Sound waves are longitudinal

waves that must pass through
a medium, such as air.
2. Echoes are reflections of
sounds.
LO: Identify and summarize the basic properties of SOUND
Success Criteria

• All – can state that sound waves can be represented by using sound waves.

• Most – Can state the terms related to sound and describe sound

• Some – Can draw a sound wave and describe the type of sound
Starter
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zstmGnaaaCI
 What causes sound?
Take a tuning fork and strike it against a block of wood.

What do you observe?

The tuning fork vibrates and you hear a sound.

Sounds are made when an object vibrates.

Sound travels because the vibrating object makes nearby

particles vibrate.

Sound needs a medium to travel through – it cannot pass

through a vacuum.
Properties of sound waves

When an object or substance vibrates, it produces sound. These sound waves

can only travel through a solid, liquid or gas. They cannot travel through empty

space.
Longitudinal waves
Sound waves are longitudinal waves - the vibrations are in the same direction as the
direction of travel.
The slideshow shows how you can model longitudinal waves using a long spring
Good vibrations!
What vibrates so that each of these objects makes sound?

drum skin

mouth blowing lute strings

harp strings horn
Detecting sound
•Ears

•We can detect sound using our ears.

• An ear has an eardrum inside, connected to three

small bones.

•The vibrations in the air make the eardrum vibrate,

and these vibrations are passed through the three
small bones (called ossicles) to a spiral structure called
the cochlea.

• Signals are passed from the cochlea to the brain

through the auditory nerve, and our brain interprets
these signals as sound.
Microphones

• Mobile phones and telephones contain microphones.

• These devices contain a diaphragm, which does a similar job to an ear drum.

• The vibrations in air make the diaphragm vibrate, and these vibrations are changed to

electrical impulses.

• In the lab, the electrical impulses can be sent to an oscilloscope, which represents them

as a graph on a screen.
Oscilloscope traces

The graphs shown by an oscilloscope are called oscilloscope traces. The diagrams show some typical oscilloscope

traces for sound:

• For a wave:

• the amplitude is the maximum height of the wave from its resting position – the

greater the amplitude, the louder the sound

• the wavelength is the distance between the crests (tops) of two waves next to each

other (or any other two identical point on waves next to each other)

• the frequency is the number of waves per second – the higher the frequency, the

closer together the waves are and the higher the pitch

1. Diagrams 1 and 2 show two sounds with the same

wavelength and frequency, so they will have the same pitch.

The sound in diagram 2 has a greater amplitude than the one

in diagram 1, so it will be louder.

2. Diagrams 2 and 3 show two sounds with a different

wavelength and frequency. The sound in diagram 3 has a

higher frequency than the one in diagram 2, so its pitch will

be higher.
1.amplitudeThe maximum height of a wave from the middle of the wave
to its peak or trough.
2.Echo A sound caused by the reflection of sound waves from a smooth
surface back to the listener.
3.frequencyThe number of waves produced each second. The unit of
frequency is hertz (Hz).
4.longitudinal waveA wave that moves in the same direction as the
direction in which the particles are vibrating.
5.oscilloscope traceThe wave pattern seen on the screen of an
oscilloscope.
6. traceThe wave pattern seen on the screen of an oscilloscope.
7. pitchThe frequency of a sound. Sounds with a high pitch have a high
frequency.
8. reflectBounce off. Shiny surfaces, such as mirrors, reflect light well.
Hard surfaces, such as walls, reflect sound well (producing echoes).
9. reflectionThere is a reflection when waves bounce off a surface.
10. ultrasoundSound with a frequency greater than 20,000 Hz (20 kHz).
11. wavelengthThe length of a single wave, measured from one wave
peak to the next.
‘Seeing’ sound waves

speaker oscilloscope
If we connect an mp3 player to a speaker, we can all
hear the sound produced.
If we also connect an oscilloscope to the mp3 player then
we can ‘see’ the sound waves.
Loudness and amplitude
A sound can be quiet or loud.
quiet sound loud sound

On an oscilloscope trace, the loudness of a sound is shown

by the height of the wave. This is called the amplitude.
Which word should be crossed out in this sentence:

The larger the amplitude of the wave on

the trace, the louder/quieter the sound.
Pitch and frequency
A sound can be high or low – this is the pitch of the sound.
low pitch high pitch

On an oscilloscope trace, the pitch of a sound is shown by

how many waves there are. This is called the frequency.
Which word should be crossed out in this sentence:

The greater the frequency of the waves

on the trace, the lower/higher the pitch.
Which wave is the loudest and highest?
Which trace represents the loudest sound?
A B
Sound A has the largest
amplitude (i.e. the tallest
waves), so it is the loudest
of these two sounds.

Which trace represents the sound with the highest pitch?

A B Sound B has the greater

number of waves across
the oscilloscope – it has
the highest frequency and
so has the highest pitch.
Amplitude and wavelength
Sound waves summary