Sound

- Made by Bijita Ma’am

 What are Waves?
• A wave is a vibratory disturbance in a medium
which carries energy from one point to another
point without any actual movement of the
medium. There are two types of waves:
• Mechanical Waves- Those waves which require a
material medium for their propagation, are called
mechanical waves, e.g., sound waves, water
waves etc.
• Electromagnetic Waves- Those waves which do
not require a material medium for their
propagation, are called electromagnetic waves,
e.g., light waves, radio waves etc.
 Nature of Waves

• Transverse waves: A wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate

at right angles to the direction of propagation of wave, is called a
transverse wave.
These waves travel in the form of crests and troughs.
• Longitudinal waves: A wave in which the particles of the medium
vibrate in the same direction in which wave is propagating, is called a
longitudinal wave.
These waves travel in the form of compressions and rarefactions.
 Some Important Terms of Sound Wave
• Compression(C): These are the regions of high pressure and density where the particles are
crowded and are represented by the upper portion or peak of the curve called crest.
• Rare-factions(R): These are the regions of low pressure and density where the particles are
spread out and are represented by the lower portion of the curve called troughs or valleys.
• Amplitude: The magnitude of the maximum disturbance in the medium on either side of
the mean value is called the amplitude of the wave. It is usually represented by the letter A.
For sound, its unit will be that of density or pressure.
• Oscillation: It is the change in density (or pressure) from the maximum value to the
minimum value and again to the maximum value.
• Frequency: The number of oscillations of a wave per unit time is the frequency of the
sound wave. It is usually represented by ν (Greek letter, nu). Its SI unit is hertz (symbol, Hz).
The larger the amplitude of vibration, the louder is the sound.
The higher the frequency of vibration, the higher is the pitch, and shriller is the sound.
• Time Period: The time taken by two consecutive compressions or rare-factions to cross a
fixed point is called the time period of the wave. It is represented by the symbol T. Its SI unit
is second (s).
Time Period = 1/ Frequency
• Wavelength: It is the distance between two consecutive compressions or two consecutive
rarefactions. The wavelength is usually represented by λ (Greek letter lambda). Its SI unit is
meter.
 Characteristics of Sound
➢ Pitch: Pitch is a characteristic of sound by which a correct note can be
distinguished from a grave or a flat note. We can identify a female and male voice
without seeing them. The term ‘pitch’ is often used in music. Pitch depends upon
the frequencies of the sound wave. A note has a higher pitch when the frequency
is high and a note of low frequency has a low pitch. For example, when a small
baby speaks something, his/her voice has a higher frequency so in case of a baby
the pitch is higher than the pitch of a man. The sound with a high frequency is
called as shrill.
• Loudness: The loudness is a sensation of how strong a sound wave is at a place. It
is always a relative term and is a dimensionless quantity. Loudness is measured
in decibel (dB).
The loudness depends on the amplitude of the vibration. It will be louder when
the amplitude is high. Suppose when we pluck a string of the sitar it starts
vibrating with low amplitude and if we apply more energy by plucking more
strongly, the string will vibrate with the greater amplitude and produce a loud
sound. As the amplitude of vibration increases, sound also increases.
• Quality: The word timbre also describes the term quality. As different sources
produce different sounds, the timbre helps us to distinguish between them. A
sound of good quality is pleasant to listen. The instruments are of different shapes
and size and they produce different harmonics of loudness hence their sound can
be easily distinguished.
Range of Sound
✓ The audible range of sound for human beings
extends from about 20 Hz to 20000 Hz (one Hz =
one cycle/s).
✓ Sounds of frequencies below 20 Hz are called
infrasonic sound or infrasound.
Example:
- Rhinoceroses communicate using infrasound of
frequency as low as 5 Hz.
- Whales and elephants produce sound in the
infrasound range.
- It is observed that some animals get disturbed
before earthquakes. Earthquakes produce low-
frequency infrasound before the main shock waves
begin which possibly alert the animals.
• Frequencies higher than 20000 Hz are called
ultrasonic sound or ultrasound.
Example:
Ultrasound is produced by dolphins, bats and
porpoises.
Ultrasounds can be used to detect cracks and flaws
in metal blocks.
Ultrasonic waves are made to reflect from various
parts of the heart and form the image of the heart.
This technique is called ‘echocardiography’.
 Ultrasonography

• An ultrasound scanner is an instrument that uses ultrasonic waves for getting images
of internal organs of the human body.
• A doctor may image the patient’s organs such as the liver, gall bladder, uterus, kidney,
etc. It helps the doctor to detect abnormalities, such as stones in the gall bladder and
kidney or tumors in different organs. In this technique, the ultrasonic waves travel
through the tissues of the body and get reflected from a region where there is a
change of tissue density.
• These waves are then converted into electrical signals that are used to generate
images of the organ.
• These images are then displayed on a monitor or printed on a film.
• This technique is called ‘ultrasonography’.
 SONAR
• The acronym SONAR stands for Sound
Navigation And Ranging. Sonar is a device
that uses ultrasonic waves to measure the
distance, direction, and speed of underwater
objects.
• Sonar consists of a transmitter and a detector
and is installed in a boat or a ship. The
transmitter produces and transmits ultrasonic
waves.
• These waves travel through water and after
striking the object on the seabed, get
reflected back and are sensed by the detector.
• The detector converts the ultrasonic waves
into electrical signals which are appropriately
interpreted.
• The distance of the object that reflected the
sound wave can be calculated by knowing the
speed of sound in water and the time interval
between transmission and reception of the
ultrasound.
 Mach Number
• It is the ratio of the speed of a body to the speed of
sound in the surrounding medium.
• The formula of Mach Number is: M = u/c
Where,
The Mach number is M
Velocity of the body is u
The speed of sound in that medium is c
• Subsonic: For these type of flow the Mach number
remains below 0.8. Commercial aeroplanes flowing
in this range have a round nose and leading edges.
• Sonic: For sonic flow, the Mach number is one.
That is for these type of flow the velocity of an
object is equal to the velocity of sound in the local
medium.
• Supersonic: When the object flow with greater
velocity than the sound it is said to have
supersonic velocity. It has a Mack number greater
than one. Aeroplanes have proper designs to
undergo supersonic speed.
• Hypersonic: When the speed of an object is much
higher than the speed of sound the flow is called
hypersonic. The range of Mach number is five to
ten in this case.
 Echo
❑ An echo is the repetition of sound that results as a reflection from a surface.
❑ Multiple reflections of sound is the successive reflection of sound from various reflecting surfaces.
• The sensation of sound persists in our brain for about 0.1 seconds.
• To hear a distinct echo, the time interval between the original sound and the reflected one must
be at least 0.1 seconds.
• For hearing distinct echoes, the minimum distance of the obstacle from the source of sound must
be 17.2 m. This distance will change with the temperature of the air. Echoes may be heard more
than once due to successive or multiple reflections.
• The persistence of sound in big enclosures like auditoriums is the result of repeated reflections of
sound and is called reverberation.
• Reverberation can be minimized by using sound absorbent materials like cardboard, thick curtains
and fibre. The process of multiple reflections of sound is applied in: Stethoscope, Megaphones,
Horns, Trumpets
Thank You