NCERT Textbook for Class 9 Science – Page 163

Question 1. Explain how sound is produced by your school bell.

Answer: Air is the commonest material through which sound
propagates. When school bell is rung, it pushes the molecules of
the air in front of it. This in turn compresses the air, thus creating
a region of high pressure and high density called compression.
This compression in the air travels forward. When the bell moves
back, it creates a region of low pressure in the air, commonly
called rarefaction. This region has low pressure, low density, and
more volume. As the bell continues to vibrate, the regions Of
compression in the air alternate with the regions of rarefaction.
These regions alternate at the same place. The energy of
vibrating bell travels outward. This energy which reaches the ears,
makes the eardrums to vibrate and thus we hear sound.

Question 2. Why are sound waves called mechanical waves ?

Answer: Some mechanical energy is required to make an object
vibrate. Sound energy cannot be produced on its own. The
mechanical energy Of vibrating object travels through a medium
and finally reaches the ear. Therefore, the sound waves are called
mechanical waves.

Question 3. Suppose you and your friend are on the moon. Will
you be able to hear any-sound produced by your friend ?
Answer: No, I will not be able to hear sound, because moon has
no atmosphere. Therefore, no sound waves can travel to your
ears and, therefore, no sound is heard.

Class 9 Science NCERT Textbook – Page -I

Question 1. Which wave property determines (a) loudness, (b)
Pitch ?
Answer: (a) The amplitude of the wave determines the loudness;
more the amplitude of a wave, more is the loudness produced.
(b) The pitch is determined by the frequency of the wave. Higher
the frequency of a wave more is its pitch and shriller is the sound.

Question 2. Guess which sound has a higher pitch; guitar or car

horn ?
Answer: Car horn has a higher pitch than a guitar, because sound
produced by the former is shriller than the latter.

NCERT TextBook Class 9 Science Page 166 -II

Question 1. What are wavelength, frequency, time period and
amplitude of a sound wave ?
Answer: Frequency: The number of compressions or rarefactions
taken together passing through a point in one second is called
frequency.
Time Period: It is the time taken by two consecutive
compressions or rarefactions to cross a point.
Amplitude: It is the magnitude of maximum displacement of a
vibrating particle about its mean position.

Question 2. How are the wavelength and frequency of a sound

wave related to its speed ?
Answer: Speed of sound Frequency x Wavelength

Question 3. Calculate the wavelength of a sound wave whose

frequency is 220 Hz and speed is 440 m s-1 in a given medium.
Answer: Frequency = 220 Hz
Speed of sound = 440 m s-1
We know speed of sound Frequency x Wavelength = 220 x
Wavelength
Wavelength = Vϑ = 440220 = 2m
Question 4. A person is listening to a tone of 500 Hz sitting at a
distance of 450 m from the source Of the sound. What is the
time interval between successive compressions from the source
?
Answer:

Question 5. Distinguish between loudness and intensity of

sound.
Answer: The loudness depends on energy per unit area of the
wave and on the response of the ear but intensity depends only
on the energy per unit area of the wave and is independent of the
response of the ear.

Question 6. In which of the three media, air, water or iron, does

sound travel the fastest at a particular temperature ?
Answer: Sound travels fastest in iron as compared to water and
air.
An echo is returned in 3 s. mat is the distance of the reflecting
surface from the source, given the speed of sound is 342 m s-1

Question 7. Why are the ceilings of concert halls curved ?

Answer: The ceilings of concert halls are curved because sound
after reflection from it reaches all the corners of the hall and is
audible to each person in the hall.
Question.8.What is the audible range of the average human ear ?
Answer. An average human ear can hear sound waves between
frequencies 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.

Question 9. What is the range of frequencies associated with (a)

Infra sound ? (b) Ultrasound ?
Answer: (a) Infra sound : Sound waves between the Frequencies
1 and 20 Hz.
(b) Ultrasound : Sound waves of the frequencies above 20,000 Hz.

Exercise questions
Question 1. What is sound and how is it produced ?
Answer: Sound is mechanical energy which produces a sensation
of hearing. When an Object is set into vibrations, sound is
produced.

Question 3. Cite an experiment to show that sound needs a

material medium for its propagation.
Answer: Take an electric circuit which consists of a cell, a switch
and an electric bell arranged inside a bell jar, which stands on the
platform of an evacuating pump. The switch of the bell is pressed
to close the electric circuit. When there is air within the bell jar,
sound is heard. Air is now pumped out of the bell jar. When the air
is completely removed from the bell jar, no sound is heard as it is
obvious from fig. because the medium of air which has to carry
energy from the bell to the bell jar is removed. It shows that
sound needs material medium for its propagation.

Question 4. Why is sound wave called a longitudinal wave ?

Answer:Sound wave is called longitudinal wave because the
particles of the medium vibrate in the direction of the propagation
of wave.
Question 5. Which characteristic of the sound helps you to
identify your friend by his voice while sitting with others in a
darkroom ?
Answer: The characteristic of sound is quality or timbre.

Question 6. Flash and thunder are produced simultaneously. But

thunder is heard a few seconds after the flash is seen, why ?
Answer: Speed of sound is 330 m/sec in air medium at 0°C.
Whereas speed of light is 3 x 108m/sec. When we compare the
speed of light with that of speed of sound, speed of light is
greater than that of speed of sound. Therefore thunder is heard a
few seconds after the flash is seen

Question 7. A person has a hearing range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

What are the typical wavelengths of sound waves in air
corresponding to these two frequencies? Take the speed of
sound in air as 344 ms-.
Answer:

Question 8. Two children are a± opposite ends of an aluminium

rod. One strikes the end of the rod with a stone. Find the ratio of
times taken by the sound wave in air and in aluminium to reach
the second child.
Answer:

Question 9. The frequency of a sources/ sound is 100 Hz. How

many times does it vibrate in a minute?
Answer:

Question 10. Does sound follow the same laws of reflection as

light does? Explain.
Answer: Yes. Sound follows the same laws of reflection as that of
light because,
(i) Angle of incidence of sound is always equal to that of angle of
reflection of sound waves.
(ii) The direction in which sound is incident, the direction in which
it is reflected and normal all lie in the same plane.

Question 11. When a sound is reflected from a distant object, an

echo is produced. Let the distance between the reflecting
surface and the source of sound production remains the same.
Do you hear echo sound on a hotter day?
Answer:

Time is inversely proportional to the speed. As the temperature

increases, the speed increases. Thus on a hot day due to high
temperature the speed of sound increases. Hence the time will
decrease and we can hear the echo sooner.

Question 12. Give two practical applications of reflection of

sound waves.
Answer: Reflection of sound is used in megaphones, horns and
musical instruments such as trumpets and shehna. It is used in
stethoscope for hearing patient’s heartbeat. Ceilings of the
concert halls are curved, so that sound after reflection reaches all
comers of the hall. (Any two practical applications can be
written).

Question 13. A stone dropped from the top of a tower 500 m high
into a pond of water at the base of the tower. When is the splash
heard at the top? Giving, g = 10 ms-2 and speed of sound = 340
m s-1.
Answer:

Question 14. A sound wave travels at a speed of 339 ms-1. If its

wavelength is 1.5 cm, what is the frequency of the wave? Will it
be audible?
Answer:
Question 15. What is reverberation? How can it be reduced?
Answer: The persistence of sound in an auditorium is the result of
repeated reflections of sound and is called reverberation.
To reduce the undesirable effects due to reverberation, roofs and
walls of the auditorium are generally covered with sound
absorbent materials like compressed fiberboard, rough plaster or
draperies. The seat materials are also selected having sound
absorption properties.

Question 16. What is loudness of sound? What factors does it

depend on?
Answer: The loudness of sound is determined by its amplitude.
The amplitude of the sound wave depends upon the force with
which an object is made to vibrate. Loud sound can travel a larger
distance as it is associated with higher energy. A sound waves
spreads out from its source. As it moves away from the source its
amplitude as well as its loudness decreases.

Question 17. Explain how bats use ultrasound to catch a prey.

Answer: Bats search out its prey by emitting and detecting
reflections of ultrasonic waves. The high-pitched ultrasonic
squeaks of bat are reflected from the obstacles or prey and return
to bat’s ear. The nature of reflection tells the bat where the
obstacle or prey is and what it is like.

Question 18. How is ultrasound used for cleaning?

Answer: Ultrasound is used to clean parts located in hard-to-
reach places (i.e.) spiral tube, odd shaped parts, electronic
components etc. Objects to be cleaned are placed in a cleaning
solution and ultrasonic waves are sent into the solution. Due to
the high frequency, the dust particles, grease get detached and
drop out. The objects thus get thoroughly cleaned.

Question 19. Explain the working and application of a sonar.

Answer: Working: SONAR Consists of a transmitter and a
detector and is installed in a boat or a ship as shown in the fig.
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 the
transmission and reception of the ultrasound.
Question 20. A sonar device on a submarine sends out a signal
and receives an echo 5 s later. Calculate the speed of sound in
water if the distance of the object from the submarine is 3625 m.
Answer: Time taken between transmission and reception of
signal = 5 sec.
Distance of the object from the sub marine = 3625 m.

Question.21. Explain how defects in a metal block can be

detected using ultrasound.
Answer. Ultrasounds can be used to detect cracks and flaws in
metal blocks. Metallic components are used in the construction
of big structures like buildings, bridges, machines and scientific
equipment’s. The cracks or holes inside the metal blocks, which
are invisible from outside reduces the strength of the structure.
Ultrasonic waves are allowed to pass through the metallic block
and detectors are used to detect the transmitted waves. If there is
even a small defect, the ultrasound gets reflected back indicating
the presence of the flaw or defect.
EXTRA QUESTIONS

Question 1. The maximum oscillation disturbance of particles of

air forms crest and trough. What is echo? Why don’t we get echo
in small room?
Answer: The distinct sound heard after reflection of sound from
the source is called echo. For echo, the distance of reflecting
surface from the source should be more than 17.2 m.

Question 2. What is velocity of sound? Why does sound travel

faster in summer season than in winter?
Answer: Velocity of sound is- the speed of sound in a given
medium at a given temperature. As the temperature increases the
speed of sound also increases, hence in summer the sound
travels faster than in winter.

Question 3. Draw a graphical representation of the wave shape

for (a) low pitched sound and (b) a high pitched sound.
Answer:

Question 4 Give two applications of echo/reflection of sound.

Answer: (i) Ships use reflection of sound technique “SONAR”
which helps in locating the depth, distance, direction and speed of
underwater objects.
(ii) Ceilings of concert halls are curved so that sound after
reflection reaches all comers of the hall.

Question 5. A sound wave causes the density of air at a place to

oscillate 1200 times in 2 minutes. Find the time period and
frequency of the wave.
Answer:

Question 6. If the speed of ultrasound through seawater is 1531

m/s. What is the distance of the seabed from the ship?-
Answer: Time between transmission and detection t = 342 s.
Speed of ultrasound in seawater = 1531 m/s.

Question 7. Distinguish between tone, note and noise.

Answer: Tone: A sound of single frequency is called a tone.
Note: The sound which is produced due to a mixture of several
frequencies is called a note.
Noise: The sound which is produced due to a mixture of several
frequencies but is unpleasant to the ear is called noise

Question 8. Given that sound travels in air at 340 m/sec, find the
wavelength of the waves in air produced by 20 kHz sound
source. If the same source is put in a water tank, what would be
the wavelength of the sound waves in water? (Speed of sound in
water = 1480 m/s.)
Answer:
 Vedic Maths

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