Production of sound

When you place your fingertips against the front of your

throat, you can feel the vibration of your vocal cord
when you make a noise.

If we bang a tuning folk on a cork, the prongs vibrate

and we hear a sound. If the vibrating prongs quickly
dipped into water, we see that water splashes.
These examples shows that sound is caused by
vibration. Any vibrating object can be a source of
sound waves. Sound waves are longitudinal in nature.

Propagation of sound wave

When a loudspeaker cone vibrates, it moves forward
and backward very fast. This squashes and stretches air
infront. As a result a series of compressions (‘squashes’)
and rarefactions (‘stretches’) travel out through the air.
These are sound waves. When they reach your ears,
they make your ear-drum vibrate and you hear a
sound.
Compression
Compression is the region where the particles are
pushed together and has high pressure.
Rarefaction
Rarefaction is the region where the particles are
further apart and has low pressure.

Audible frequencies
Human ear can only hear sounds with a frequency of
between 20Hz to 20 000Hz (20Hz to 20kHz). This
frequency range is called range of audible
frequencies.

Sound of frequency greater than 20 000Hz is called

ultrasound.
Sound waves need a material to travel
through
This material is called a medium. Without it, there is
nothing to pass on any oscillations. Sound cannot
travel through a vacuum (completely empty space).
The experiment below is to prove that sound waves
need a medium to travel through:
Put the electric bell into a jar and gradually
remove the air inside using the vacuum
pump. At the beginning, the bell can be
seen and heard.Vibrations pass through
the air inside the jar, the glass and the air
outside the jar to our ears. When the air is
removed, the bell can be seen ringing but
cannot be heard. This means sound
requires a medium to travel through.
Since the bell can still be seen, light can travel
through a vacuum but sound cannot.
Light travels much faster than and that’s why
lightning is seen before the thunder is heard.

Speed of sound wave

Sound can travel through solids, liquids, and gases.
Speed of sound varies with the medium through
which it travels. Sound travels faster in solids
(concrete 5000m/s), then in liquids (1400m/s in pure
water) and then in gases (330m/s in air). High speeds
in solids are due to the strong force of attraction
between molecules. Speed of sounds also depends on
temperature. Light on the
Measuring of speed of sound in air
Apparatus needed: stopwatch, starting pistol and measuring tape (trundle
wheel).

Procedure:
 Observers A and B are positioned at a known distance d apart in an open
field. Record the distance d with the measuring tape. (d must be about 1km)
 Observer A fires the pistol
 Observer B, on seeing the flash of starting pistol, starts the stopwatch and
then stops it when he hears the sound. The time interval t is recorded.
 Repeat the time taken t and find the average value of time.
 Then calculate the speed of sound s in the air by using the following
formula.
d
s=
t
Echo sound
Sound waves can be reflected by large, flat and hard
surfaces like walls and cliffs. If the reflected sound is
heard after an interval of time, it is called an ECHO.
Echo sound can be used to calculate distance by using
the formula:
2d
s=
t
Worked example:
To estimate the width of a valley, a climber starts a stopwatch as
he shouts. He hears an echo from the s=
opposite side of the valley
2d
t
after 4.0 s. 2d = s x t
2d = 340 x 4
1360
d=
2
d = 680 m
Characteristics of sound
The characteristics of sound can be shown by connecting sound
producing source to C.R.O.
Loudness
The loudness of a sound wave depends upon the amplitude of
the wave.
A sound wave with a larger amplitude contains more energy
and is therefore louder.
amplitude
Pitch
The pitch of a sound wave depends on the frequency of the
wave.
Sound of higher frequency (shorter wavelength) has a higher
pitch.
Frequency(f) is the number vibrations or oscillations made in one
second. It is measured in hertz(Hz)
Sound quality (timber)
The quality of the sound depends on the shape of the waveform.
Ultrasound
The sounds above the range of audible frequency (20Hz to 20
kHz) are called ultrasounds.

Uses of ultrasound
• Ultrasounds are used to pre-natal scanning (womb scanning)
and also to examine the inside of human body.
• It is also used cleaning delicate (sensitive) machinery. The
machinery is immersed in tank of liquid, then the vibration of
high power ultrasound are used to dislodge (remove) the bits
of dirt’s and grease.
• Ultrasound is also used to quality control (detect flaws in
metals). The echo sounding principle can be used detect flaws
in metals. A pulse of ultrasound is sent through the metal, the
there is a flaw (tiny gap) in the metal, the reflected pulse are
picked up by the detector and shows on C.R.O screen.
Pulses of ultrasound are sent into the metal from a
transmitter. A detector is placed next to the transmitter
on the front surface of the metal.
Diagram below shows the oscilloscope trace of the
ultrasound pulses produced if the metal contains no
cracks.
• Ships use echo – sounders to measure the depth of water
beneath them. An echo – sounder sends pulses of ultra sound
downwards towards the seabed, then measures the time taken
for each echo (reflected sound) to return. The longer the time,
the deeper the sea.
The diagram below shows cathode-ray oscilloscope
(c.r.o.) trace of the pulses of ultrasound sent from the
ship and the reflected pulses.
Bat uses ultrasound to find insects and other things
in front of it. It send out ultra sound pulses and use
its specially shaped ears to pick up the reflections.