Chapter 13 - Sound

At the end of the chapter,

you should be able to
Describe

the production of sound by

vibrating sources.
Describe the longitudinal nature of
sound waves in terms of the processes
of compression and rarefaction.
Explain that a medium is required in
order to transmit sound waves and the
speed of sound differs in air, liquids and
solids.

At the end of the chapter,

you should be able to
Relate

loudness of a sound wave to its

amplitude and pitch to its frequency.
Describe how the reflection of sound
may produce an echo, and how this
may be used for measuring distances.

Quiz
Elephants

have the intuition and can

hear that a storm is approaching from
as far as 240 km away. They can also
communicate with each other over
great distances using sounds that we,
human beings, cannot hear.
How is this possible?

Quiz

Elephants produces sound

that is beyond the human
audible frequency range.

What do you hear?

How are sound produced?

14.1 Nature and Production of Sound

is a form of energy that
can passed from one point to another
as a wave .

Sound

13.1 Nature and Production of Sound

sound is produced by a vibrating
source placed in a medium .
Examples of vibrating sources
include vibrating strings in piano
or guitar, vibrating air column in
flute or trumpet, vibrating
membrane in a drum or vocal
cord .
All

How do Sound travels?

The

sound vibrations produce a

series of compression and
rarefaction of the particles in the
surrounding medium.

How do sound travels?

Prongs

are stationary.

no disturbance in air particles

How do sound travels?

move outwards.
(pushes air particles)

Prongs

compression

How do sound travels?

move inwards.
(pulls air particles)

Prongs

rarefaction

How do sound travels?

Prongs

continuing to vibrate.

compression
(high pressure)

compression
(high pressure)

one wavelength

rarefaction
(low pressure)

How do sound travels?

Compressions

are places where the

higher
air pressure is
than
the surrounding air pressure.
Rarefaction are places where the air
lower
pressure is
than the
surrounding air pressure.

How do sound travels?

By

measuring air pressure at different points

along the direction of travel of sound, the following
pressure-distance graph can be obtained.

Air
Pressure
Compression

Compression

High
Amplitude

Rarefaction

Rarefaction

Surrounding Air
Pressure
Distance

Amplitude
Low

wavelength

How do sound travels?

The

diagram below shows how the vibrating

particles look like within the pipe where sound
waves are travelling through:
compression

rarefaction

The Bell-Jar Experiment

The Bell-jar Experiment

The Bell-Jar Experiment

The Bell-jar Experiment

Stage 1:
The bell circuit is completed by closing the switch.
Seen and Heard:
The movement of the striker
can be seen and the sound
of the bell ringing can be heard.
Deduction:
Sound is produced by vibrations.

The Bell-Jar Experiment

The Bell-jar Experiment

Stage 2:
The tap is closed and the vacuum pump is switched
on.
Seen and Heard:
The movement of the striker
can be seen but the sound of
the bell ringing gets fainter
with time until it can no
longer be heard.

The Bell-Jar Experiment

The Bell-jar Experiment

Stage 2:
The tap is closed and the vacuum pump is switched
on.
Deduction:
Sound cannot travel
through vacuum.

The Bell-Jar Experiment

The Bell-jar Experiment

Stage 3:
The vacuum pump is switched off and the tap is
open.
Seen and Heard:
The movement of the striker
can be seen and the sound
of the bell ringing can be heard
again.

The Bell-Jar Experiment

The Bell-jar Experiment

Stage 3:
The vacuum pump is switched off and the tap is
open.
Deduction:
Sound requires a medium for
transmission.

The Bell-Jar Experiment

The Bell-jar Experiment

Note:

Bell should be not be touching

the bell-jar and the table and the
wire should also be kept thin.
This is to prevent the sound
from traveling through them.

Quiz
Based

on our discussions so far, what type of waves

are sound waves, transverse or longitudinal? Why?

Can

sound waves be heard in outer space? Why?

Quiz
Based

on our discussions so far, what

type of waves are sound waves,
transverse or longitudinal? Why?

Sound wave is a longitudinal wave.

As the direction of vibration of
particles is parallel to the wave
motion.

Quiz
Can

sound waves be heard in outer

space? Why?

No, as sound wave requires a

medium to travel.

Speed of Sound
Speed of Light in air
Speed of Sound in air
Speed of Sound in fresh water
Speed of Sound in iron

300 000 000 m/s

330 m/s
1500 m/s
5000 m/s

What can be deduced from the above data?

Speed of light in air is
higher
than speed of
sound in air.
Speed of sound increases when the distance
between the molecules in the medium .

decreases

Sound Wave Equation

Since

sound is a longitudinal wave,

the wave equation also applies to
sound.
Wave Equation

v=f

Example 1

compression
(high pressure)

wave, of wavelength 600 mm and

frequency of vibration 550 Hz, produces
moving compressions and rarefactions in the
air.
(a) Draw a sketch of how the sound waves
look like, labeling regions of compression
and rarefaction.

A sound

compression rarefaction
(high pressure)(low pressure)

Example 1
A sound

wave, of wavelength 600 mm and

frequency of vibration 550 Hz, produces
moving compressions and rarefactions in the
air.
(b) From your sketch, what is the distance from the
middle of a compression to the middle of the
nearest rarefaction in this wave at any instant?

Ans: 300 mm

Example 1
A sound

wave, of wavelength 600 mm and

frequency of vibration 550 Hz, produces
moving compressions and rarefactions in the
air.
(c) How many compressions pass a point in
one second?
Ans: 550

13.3 Pitch, Loudness and Quality

Pitch
The

high and low in music are known

as
. pitch
pitch is related to frequency of
the sound waves.

The

13.3 Pitch, Loudness and Quality

Pitch
A high

high

A low

low

pitch note has a

frequency .
pitch note has a
frequency .

13.3 Pitch, Loudness and Quality

For String instruments
Factors affecting pitch of sound produced
THICKNESS
Thick
Thin

string produces a

low. pitch

string produces a . high pitch

13.3 Pitch, Loudness and Quality

For String instruments
Factors affecting pitch of sound produced
TENSION
High

tension string produces a high pitch

.

Low

tension string produces a low pitch

.

13.3 Pitch, Loudness and Quality

For String instruments
Factors affecting pitch of sound produced
LENGTH

low pitch

Long

string produces a .

Short

string produces a . high pitch

13.3 Pitch, Loudness and Quality

For Wind instruments
Factors affecting pitch of sound produced
LENGTH

of column of air

Short

column of air produces a high pitch

.

Long

column of air produces a low pitch

.

13.3 Pitch, Loudness and Quality

Waveform of different pitch sound.
Waveform of high pitch sound

Displacement

Time

Displacement
Waveform of low pitch sound

Time

13.3 Pitch, Loudness and Quality

Loudness
The

loudness of the sound is related to

amplitude of the waveform.

13.3 Pitch, Loudness and Quality

Waveform of different loudness sound.
Waveform of soft sound

Displacement

Time

Displacement

Waveform of loud sound

Time

13.4 Application and Uses of Sound

When

a sound strikes a surface, part

of the sound is reflected and the rest
is absorbed. The sound reflected off
hard, flat surfaces such as a large
wall or a distance cliff is known as an
echo .

13.4 Application and Uses of Sound

Similarly

to light, the reflection of

sound follows the law of reflection as
shown in the diagram below.

13.4 Application and Uses of Sound

Ships

and animals (eg. Whales,

dolphin, bats) use echo
find to
the depth of

the sea, and their way around

respectively.

13.4 Application and Uses of Sound

Echoes

can be used to determine the

distance between two locations. For
example, fishing ships use echoes to
locate fish in the sea. This is called

echolocation

Example 1
A person

fires a gun at a distance away from

a cliff. He manage to hear the echo 2 s later.
How far is he standing away from the cliff if
the speed of sound in air is 330m/s.

Example 2
The

survivor of a shipwreck lands on an

island which is 3000 m from a vertical cliff. He
sees a ship anchored between the island and
the cliff. A blast from the ships horn is heard
twice with a time lapse of 4 s. Assume that
speed of sound = 330 m/s. Calculate the
distance s of the ship from the island.