On Sound 4: Sound Waves (Chapter 16)

Phys130, A04 Dr. Robert MacDonald

Sound is any longitudinal (compression) wave in a tangible medium, like air, wood, rock, the sun, etc.

At least some aspects of an earthquake are

essentially huge sounds. The audible range of sound for humans is about 2020,000 Hz. Sounds below this range are called infrasonic; above this range theyre called ultrasonic.

Elephants use low frequency (1335 Hz) sounds to

communicate with each other through the earth, over distances of more than 2.5 km. They can nd each other, converse, even recognize each other.
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http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/30/elephant-communication.html

Wavefunction of Sound
Sound waves generally travel out in all directions from a source. But for now, well focus on sound waves travelling in a straight line in one direction, which well call the positive x axis (since we can). This is the same wave function weve been working with up till now: y(x, t) = A cos(kx t). (The phase constant 0 isnt important for now, so well set that to zero to keep things tidy.)

Displacement vs Pressure
In addition to talking about sound as a wave of particle displacements, we can talk about pressure waves, describing how the air pressure changes as the sound wave passes and the molecules bunch or spread. This is a useful description since its how we hear. The eardrum has air on both sides.

Here Im using y to represent the displacement of

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Inside your head the eardrum is vented by the Eustachian tube, so its always at atmospheric pressure (unless the tube is plugged!). A sound wave changes the pressure up and down on the outside of the eardrum. The difference moves the eardrum back and forth.
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the particles along the direction of wave motion. This is different than on a string, but the principles are the same.

Since what the wave causes is these variations in pressure, thats what well use to describe sound the difference from atmospheric pressure. Recall how a high-then-low longitudinal displacement graph results in particles bunching and spreading. Lets look at the sinusoidal version of that and gure out how to describe what the pressures doing.

http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/sound-pressure-density.htm
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Undisturbed cylinder of air:

x O x x+x

Surface area S

Displacement Pressure
So the difference in the displacements in either end of our (tiny, imaginary) cylinder results in a change in the length of the cylinder and a change in the volume of the cylinder, since the area of the ends hasnt changed. The change in the volume is the area of the end times the change in the length: ! V = S [y(x+x, t) - y(x, t)] Lets get rid of S by looking at the fractional change in volume:

When a sound wave passed through, each end of this cylinder will be displaced according to the wavefunction y. The displacement of the left end at time t will be y(x, t); the displacement of the right end will be y(x+x, t). y(x, t) < y(x+x, t) y(x, t) > y(x+x, t)

>x O x x+x O x

<x x+x
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That last version becomes a derivative if x is very small (i.e. the limit x0):

Since we know the wavefunction, y(x, t) = A cos(kx - t), we can evaluate y/x and determine a formula for p(x,t):
Difference from atmospheric pressure in a sinusoidal sound wave.

The change in volume results in a change in pressure (youre compressing or expanding the gas). The amount of pressure change depends on the bulk modulus B, dened as
See Section 12.7 for more details about B.

where k is the wavenumber, B is the bulk modulus, A is the displacement amplitude, and is the angular frequency.

If we dene p(x,t) as the difference between the pressure in our cylinder and atmospheric pressure (i.e. p = P), then
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More amplitude means more pressure change.

Max difference from atmospheric pressure in a sinusoidal sound wave.

More bulk modulus means its harder to compress the gas, so for a given amplitude you get more pressure change. Shorter wavelength means more pressure change (!).
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Perception of Sound
Loudness depends on the amplitude of the sound wave. But the perceived loudness varies from person to person!

We dont have a uniform frequency response

some frequencies sound louder than others, even at the same amplitude. The details vary from person to person. at the higher frequencies.

We lose sensitivity to sound over time, especially Loud sounds damage hearing, too look at
http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/sound-pressure-density.htm

rock musicians and orchestra members.

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Pitch is of course mainly dependent on the (fundamental) frequency of the sound wave. But there are a number of auditory illusions that make a pitch sound higher or lower. For example, if you hear two tones at the same frequency but different amplitudes, the louder one will tend to sound a little lower. Timbre (aka, tone colour or quality), the characteristic sound of an instrument, comes from the particular combination of sine waves of various frequencies and amplitudes that make up its sound that is, its harmonic content. These waves come from the air or string as well as from the instrument body.

From The Physics Hypertextbook http://physics.info/music/

The human voice works basically the same way.

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http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Fourier_Making_Waves

Noise is a combination of a range of frequencies, not just harmonics.

Speed of Sound in a Fluid

We have an expression for the speed of a wave on a string: What does the speed of a wave (sound) in a uid depend on?

White noise is a uniform combination of all

frequencies of sound (within some range, of course). each other sound so bad: the combination isnt harmonic but noisy.

This is why instruments that are out of tune with

We can expect it has something to do with how Its probably related to how hard it is to get the

difcult it is to compress the uid; this is described by the bulk modulus. molecules of gas moving their mass, or (similar to the string) their mass density.
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We can use the wave equation to nd the speed.

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Well start by looking at the speed of sound through a pipe.

A = area
pipe

x p(x,t) p(x+x,t)

A = area

This is a relevant example, since it describes wind

instruments and the human voice. Well ignore any effects of the walls of the pipe (like friction); as long as the pipe is reasonably big it shouldnt have much effect. (Sound through a small tube, it turns out, is slowed down by the walls. This is called the tube effect.) All we care about is that the uid cant expand laterally (i.e. cant squish out the sides of the pipe). Remember our three ingredients for the wave equation: a restoring force, Newton II (F = ma), and linearization.
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x axis

Volume of pipe segment: ! V = Ax Mass of uid in pipe segment: ! m = V = A x

Greek letter rho

is the mass density "the mass per unit volume (usually measured in kg/m3). Its how heavy the air or water etc is. We can describe the sound by the way it changes the uids pressure as it passes through, like before. The pressure wave p(x,t) gives the amount that the pressure at point x is increased or decreased by the sound wave, at time t.
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Remember that pressure is a force distributed over an area (force per unit area). For example, a larger parachute will slow your fall better than a smaller one. So the force on each side of the segment of uid is given by the pressure there times the area. The force on the left end (pushing right) is F(x,t) = A p(x,t), and on the right end (pushing left) is F(x+x,t) = A p(x+x,t). The net force on the segment of uid is just the difference of these (remember right = positive):

We can put this information into F = ma, as a step towards relating what we know to the Wave Equation.
mass

Net Force

acceleration

So we can cancel out A; the speed of sound doesnt depend on the size of the pipe! We found previously that which gives us:

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That last equation should look vaguely familiar from the derivation of wave speed on a string. Lets rearrange it a bit:

Speed of Sound in a Solid

The speed of sound in a solid is more complex than were going to deal with here. Its complicated by the way the surrounding material keeps the wave from squishing the material out sideways. It depends on the density, the bulk modulus (how hard it is to compress), and the shear modulus (how hard it is to shear the material), and sometimes some other things. All this adds complexity without adding much more than a few formulas. (If youre curious, though, its in your textbook...) Well focus on uids here.
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The left hand side is just the x-derivative of the slope or the second x-derivative of the position if x is very small. So we put that in:

Huzzah! The Wave Equation! This means that /B=1/v2, or: Speed of sound in a uid.
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B is the bulk modulus. is the mass density.

Speed of Sound in a Gas

A gas is of course just a type of uid, but its interesting to study specically. For any uid the speed of sound is given by:

Speeds of Sound
Here is the speed of sound in a few different media:

In a gas, though, the bulk modulus B depends on the pressure of the gas which can be changed quite easily. So, obviously, does the mass density . Temperature and pressure in a gas are closely related. So the speed of sound in a gas is very sensitive to the pressure and the temperature.
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Air (0C):! Air (20C):! Helium (0C):! Water (20C):! Lead! Copper! Glass (Pyrex)!

331 m/s 343 m/s 965 m/s 1482 m/s 1960 m/s 5010 m/s 5640 m/s
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Echolocation: Bat vs Dolphin

Compare the wavelength of sonar used by bats (in air, say at 20C) to that used by dolphins. Assume they both use a frequency of 100 kHz = 1.00x105 Hz. Any required constants will be supplied.

Dolphins in water:

Start by looking for a connection between

For water, the density is 1.00 g/cm3 = 1000 kg/m3, and the textbook says B = 2.18x109 Pa. This gives v = 1476 m/s. Then the wavelength is = v/f = (1476m/s)/(1.00x105Hz) or = 0.0148 m. This is independent of temperature, aside from slight changes in the density of water.
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information we have frequency "and information were looking for wavelengths. This is a simple one: v = f for any wave, so well start with that: = v/f. Frequency is the same in both situations, but the speed of sound changes.
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Bats in air:

how the displacement of molecules in a sound wave

The bulk modulus of air at 20C is about 1.42x105 Pa. The density of air at 20C is about 1.204 kg/m3. This gives v = 343 m/s, and = v/f = 0.00343 m.

So now you know:

results in a change in pressure. displacement or pressure. gas.

how to describe a sound wave in terms of either what determines the speed of sound in a liquid or a

Dolphins in water: = 1.48 cm Bats in air: 0.34 cm

Bats can distinguish much smaller objects. (This makes sense they hunt bugs!)
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Wave Intensity
In one-dimensional waves (e.g. waves on a string), all of the energy that enters the string at one end makes it to the other end (aside from energy lost to damping). In three-dimensional waves (e.g. sound, light), the energy spreads out in more than one direction. The intensity (I) of a (3D) wave is the average rate at which energy is transported across some unit of area. In other words, its the average power per unit area.

Britains Listening Ears

Written mathematically, intensity is dened as:

! I = P/A.
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http://www.ajg41.clara.co.uk/mirrors/dungeness.html

Spherical Symmetry
200 foot sound mirror Consider a spherical wave a wave which spreads out evenly in all directions. This is the kind of wave you get from a point source of light (bulb, candle, star), sound, etc. At a distance r from the source, the energy of the wave is spread over the surface of a sphere of area 4r2. So the intensity is given by: Power coming
Intensity of sound in spherical waves. from the source Surface area of a sphere

30 foot sound mirror

The way intensity drops with the square of distance is called the inverse square law.
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Inverse Square Law

The Inverse Square Law describes how intensity changes as a function of distance. Consider two spheres of radius r1 and r2 centred on the wave source. As long as the medium doesnt absorb any energy as the wave travels between the spheres (i.e. no damping), the total power P going through each sphere should be the same. Then and Equate these and rearrange and we nd: Inverse square law for intensity of spherical waves.

Example: Solar Panels

Consider a 1 m2 solar panel in use at the equator (so we dont have to worry about seasons). The Earth is closest to the Sun in January, at a distance of r1 = 1.47x108 km. The Earth is furthest from the Sun in July, at a distance of r2 = 1.52x108 km. If the solar panel generates 200 W of power in January (P1), how much power does it generate in July (P2)?

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Intensity and Area

Intensity is dened as power per unit area "that is, the amount of energy passing through some surface every second (or whatever).
1.47x108 km 1.52x108 km

200 W

For a spherical wave, at a distance r from the source the original power is distributed over the surface of a sphere of radius r. So the intensity of the wave at this distance is given by I = P 4r2. If youre standing at a distance r and hold up a sheet with area A, the amount of power striking that sheet is given by I A the intensity times the area of the sheet. (Not the area of the imaginary sphere.)
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Not all waves are spherical! The formula for intensity depends entirely on the shape of the waves. The intensity of a laser, for example the amount of energy going into that little dot of light per second is almost independent of distance r. So we need to know the shape of the wave in order to gure out the intensity at a distance r from the source. But if you want to know how much power is striking your photosensor, microphone, etc, it doesnt matter what the shape of the wave was. All that matters is the intensity of the wave and how big your sensor is. P = I A is always true "its the denition of intensity!
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Shaping Sound
Your voice can be reasonably modelled as a point source radiating in all directions. But if you cup your hands, the sound that would have gone to the sides also gets reected forward. The result is that the sound doesn't spread out as much, so it decreases more slowly than 1/r2. Reections from walls mean that the inverse square law is blown away indoors.

In fact, theatres (including home theatres!) and

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concert halls should be carefully designed so you dont end up with weird dead spots or other effects.

Winspear Centre

e.g. Intense Concert

During a particularly thrilling part of an Edmonton Symphony concert, the sound intensity reaching your eardrum is 0.80 W/m2. Assume the eardrum is a circle of radius 0.4 mm. What is the average rate at which energy is reaching your ear?

The Winspear Centre downtown has fantastic acoustics "there are no bad seats! The whole place was designed around how sound is transported, reected, focussed, and mixed. No inverse square law!
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Examples of Sound Intensity

Power Threshold of hearing Typical conversation Loud shout Threshold of pain 1x10-5 W 3x10-2 W Intensity at 1 m away 1x10-12 W/m2 8x10-7 W/m2 2x10-3 W/m2 1 W/m2

Intensity vs Amplitude
We should expect the intensity of a sound wave to be related to the displacement amplitude, or equivalently to the pressure amplitude. Lets gure out what the relationship is. Remember that Energy = (Force) x (Distance), which means that Power = (Force) x (Velocity). (Power / unit area) = (Force / unit area) x (Velocity) In other words, (Intensity) = (Pressure) x (Velocity). The velocity depends on the displacement amplitude, so we can use this to relate intensity to amplitude.
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I calculated intensity assuming spherical waves and the inverse square law.

So if we want the velocity of the air, caused by the change in pressure from the sound wave, look to the wave equation: y(x, t) = A cos(kx t). The derivative y/t gives the particle velocity were looking for.

This last equation, I(x,t), is the instantaneous intensity, the power per unit area at some place and at some time. Were almost never interested in this; rather, when we say intensity we generally mean the time-averaged intensity. Remember that the average of sin2 over a period is 1/2. Then the time average of I(x,t) = BkA2sin2(kxt) is
wave speed!

This is the instantaneous intensity.

rho Average intensity of a = mass density sinusoidal sound wave B = bulk modulus = angular frequency in a uid. A = displacement amplitude
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Intensity vs Pressure
Remember that the maximum pressure (the pressure amplitude) is given by pmax"="BkA. Then A = pmax/Bk. Use this in I!=!(1/2)BkA2:

The Decibel Scale

Human sight and hearing are logarithmic. The perceived brightness or loudness of something goes like the logarithm of the intensity. So for sound they developed something called the sound intensity level (not to be confused with sound intensity!). Its represented by a (Greek letter beta), and is dened as: sound intensity
not a B! base 10 logarithm reference intensity: 10-12 W/m2

p2 max I= 2 B
= Greek letter rho = Greek letter omega

Average intensity of a pmax = pressure amplitude sinusoidal sound wave = mass density B = bulk modulus in a uid. v = wave speed
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Its measured in decibels or dB. One dB is 1/10 of a bel. We pretty much always use decibels, though.
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The threshold of pain (1 W/m2) then corresponds to (10"dB)log(100/10-12)"="120"dB. A typical conversation (~10-6 W/m2) is around 65"dB. A whisper is more like 20"dB (~10-10 W/m2). Remember that the frequency response of the human ear isnt uniform, so 65 dB will sound louder at some frequencies than at others. There are specialized sound scales and meters that adjust the numbers so that a particular sound level will sound the same at all frequencies.

Examples of Sound Intensity

Intensity at your ear Ninja through dry leaves Threshold of hearing Typical conversation Pirate conversation Rock concert Threshold of pain 0.5x10-12 W/m2 1x10-12 W/m2 3.2x10-6 W/m2 3.0x10-2 W/m2 1x100 W/m2 1.0x101 W/m2 Intensity Level at your ear 3 dB 0 dB 65 dB 105 dB 120 dB 130 dB

The dBA scale is one of these. So 65 dBA sounds

the same at all frequencies, but high and low frequencies will carry a lot more power.
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Decibels and Attenuation

Its often useful to use other reference intensities for various purposes. Ampliers and attenuators will sometimes list how much theyre changing the signal in dB.

Example: Chirping Bird

Consider an ideal bird "a point source. The birds sound will be radiating equally in all directions, in a spherical or hemispherical way, so it follows an inverse square law. If you go three times farther away from the bird, how much does the sound intensity level of the birdsong change? How much does the pressure amplitude change?

In this case the reference intensity is the input.

Stereos often display volume in negative decibels.

The stereo is attenuating (quietening) the signal

from the CD or whatever.

0 dB on this scale is an unattenuated signal.

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(Positive dB means youre actually amplifying it.)

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Starting with the sound intensity level, rst lets write down the difference:

So its basically the usual denition of sound intensity level, but using the original intensity as the reference. (In other words, decibels add!) Now well apply the inverse square law:
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So moving three times farther away from the bird reduces the sound intensity level of the song by almost 10"dB. What does this do to the pressure amplitude?

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Were looking for pressure amplitude, and we have the change in sound intensity level. This is related to the sound intensity, which is related to the pressure amplitude by the formula: Since were looking for the relative change in pressure amplitude we dont actually need to know the density" or the bulk modulus B. (Ill call the pressure amplitude p here instead of pmax to tidy it up a bit.) These cancel out; its the same air!

e.g. Cylindrical sound wave

A (very large!) electric spark jumps along a straight line of length L = 10 m, and produces a noise with acoustic power of Ps = 1.6x104 W. The bang travels radially outward from the spark; the wave looks like an expanding cylinder.

What is the intensity I of the sound at a distance of

r"="12"m from the spark?

At what rate P

d does sound energy reach an acoustic detector of area Ad = 2.0 cm2, aimed at the spark and located 12"m away from it?
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Consider an imaginary cylinder of radius 12"m and height 10 m, with no end caps. All of the acoustic energy that leaves the spark must pass through this cylinder, at the same (total!) rate.

Total power passing through the cylinder = Ps Total area of the cylinder sides = 2rL Sound intensity at 12 m from the spark: ! I = P/A (denition of intensity!) I = Ps / (2rL) ! = (1.6x104 W) / (2(12 m)(10 m)) ! = 21.2 W/m2.

So the total power passing through the cylinder is the

same as the total power coming from the source. That energy is uniformly distributed over the whole cylinder by symmetry. So the intensity at any point on this cylinder is the total power divided by the cylinders area (ignoring the ends!).
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So thats the intensity of sound at the surface of our acoustic detector. How much acoustic power is the detector receiving? From the denition of intensity: P = IA. Area of the detector = Ad = 2.0 cm2 = 2.0x104 m2. So the detector receives a power of: ! Pd = (21.2 W/m2)(2.0x104 m2) 4.2x103 W or 4.2 mW.

what intensity means (denition: I = P/A). how the intensity of a wave can change with

So now you know:

distance, what the inverse square law is, and when it applies. displacement amplitude and pressure amplitude. relative intensity.

how the intensity of a sound wave is related to its what the decibel scale is, and how it measures That is, the intensity of a wave relative to some
reference intensity.
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Standing Waves in a Pipe

When a wave reaches the end of a pipe, whether the end is open or closed, it reects back into the pipe.

The wave may be inverted or not at the reection,

just like with a wave on a string with a loose or xed end. The incoming and reected wave interfere (their displacements add), and just as with strings you get a standing wave. We can describe the standing wave in terms of displacement or pressure, just like with other sound waves.
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The Treachery of Images, Ren Magritte, c. 1928

Longitudinal Standing Wave

Same wavefunction as a transverse standing wave! displacement y of the particle at position x, at time t: ! y(x,t) = A sin(kx) sin(t) But now the displacement y is along the same direction as the wave motion. Magnutude of pressure change p is largest where displacement y is 0, and p = 0 where |y| is max. displacement nodes = pressure antinodes pressure nodes = displacement antinodes So a good pressure wavefunction is: ! p(x,t) = pmax cos(kx) sin(t)

Waves and Pipe Ends

Closed end of a pipe = displacement node (air has nowhere to go!)

Pressure can change!

!"pressure node.

! pressure antinode

Open end of a pipe = displacement antinode

Pressure is equalized to atmospheric pressure!

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Wind Instruments
Usually have at least one end open, the other either open or closed. Generate noise by buzzing lips or a reed, or blowing air past a mouth (e.g. recorder, pipe organ).

Davis Organ @ Winspear

Noise is a continuous combination of many frequencies!

Frequencies matching the pipe harmonics resonate and are amplied.

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Standing Waves in a Pipe

Displacement envelopes shown.

Two Open Ends

This is basically the opposite of the clamped string, which had displacement nodes at each end. With two open ends we have displacement antinodes and pressure nodes. The longest wavelength that can produce a standing wave is still 1=2L, just like with a clamped string. The situation is basically the same as before, so the formulas turn out the same. (Remember v = f.) Allowed standing waves in a pipe with two open ends.
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One Closed End (Stopped)

A pipes open end has a displacement antinode. The closed end has a displacement node. This is a little different, obviously. The distance between a node and its nearest antinode is only /4. So the longest wavelength you can get in a stopped pipe is 1=4L twice as long as before (so twice as low a note!). The next harmonic will occur when weve squeezed in another half cycle, so = 4L/3 = 1/3. After that well get = 4L/5, etc... only odd harmonics allowed!
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Frequency and Temperature

The wavelengths of standing waves possible in a pipe are determined by the length of the pipe. Since v = f (for any wave, remember!) this means the frequency will depend on the speed of sound in the pipe and that depends on air temperature! As the temperature changes, the tuning of the instrument changes. (As you may know if youve ever played music outdoors.)

Allowed standing waves in a pipe with one open end.

This can be a big problem for large pipe organs; often some pipes are warmer than others.
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Resonance and Sound

We studied forced oscillations previously. It works the same way with sound in a pipe as it does with a simple harmonic oscillator. If you generate a sound with some frequency near the pipe, the molecules of air in the pipe will oscillate with that frequency (just like the rest of the air). Thats all there is to forced oscillations and sound. Just like before, if you drive the molecules of air at a frequency theyd like to move at anyway, the oscillations build up, the amplitude increases, and you get resonance.
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The simple harmonic oscillator has only one resonant frequency; if you let it go it will oscillate with that frequency. But air in a pipe (or a string!) will be happy to oscillate in any of its harmonics. So if you apply sound with the same frequency as one (or more!) of the pipe's harmonics the air in the pipe will resonate.

As the sound reects back and forth in the pipe, its

reinforced and added to by the incoming sound.

You may have already seen this in your labs.

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e.g.: Sound resonance

You pick up a cardboard tube of length L = 67.0 cm and hold it near your ear. Random background sounds from the room set up a standing wave in the tube at its fundamental frequency. (Other standing waves, too, but the fundamental frequency is strongest.)

Example: guitar and pipe

A 3 m stopped organ pipe (one end open) generates sound in its rst harmonic. The speed of sound in the pipe is 350 m/s. A nearby piece of guitar string is excited into its third harmonic by the sound. The string has linear mass density 5 g/m and tension 50 N. How long is the guitar string?

Assuming the speed of sound is v = 343 m/s, what

fundamental frequency do you hear from the tube? fundamental frequency do you hear from the tube?
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If you jam your ear against one end of the tube, what
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 what standing sound waves are possible in a pipe, How the wavelength and frequency of a standing how sound waves can set up standing waves by
resonance.

So now you know:

Interference of Waves
Interference is the term for what happens when two or more waves overlap. Standing waves are a good example. A different type of interference occurs when you have two or more similar waves travelling in the same direction, or spreading out together in space. The waves can add constructively, or destructively. Which one you get depends on the relative phase of the two waves at the place youre looking. (Remember, the principle of superposition is the statement that when two waves overlap, they just add.)

and how that depends on whether the pipe ends are open or closed. sound wave are related to the sound speed and the pipe length (and pipe ends).

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Combined waveform wave 1 wave 2 Waves exactly in phase = (2n), n = 0, 1, 2, ... Waves exactly out of phase = (2n+1), n = 0, 1, 2, ...

Some Demos
Several animations showing superposition of 1-D waves, including beats, standing waves, and more:
http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/superposition/superposition.html

Building snapshot & history graphs:

http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/wave-x-t/wave-x-t.html

At the place where were looking, the two waves have different phases (in general). = difference in phase. depends on:
Remember: phase = kx t + 0.
0

Two-source interference (shown later):

http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/feschools/waves/super2.htm

can have any value!

how the waves were created (different values) how far they travelled (difference in x/ (or kx)) what happened to them on the way (reections etc)
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Phase Difference
Think of a microphone placed near a set of two speakers, producing sound like this: the same pure (single frequency) tone. produced in phase (simultaneous crests, etc). The principle of superposition says that the sound wave at the microphone will be the sum of the waves from each source. Here we have identical waves, with different phases when they reach the mic. How they add depends on the difference in phase at the microphone.

vs L
Remember that phase is kx t + 0.

Were told the speakers are emitting in phase, so

their wavefunctions have the same 0 values.

The mic is listening to both speakers at the same x

= L1 and x2 = L2.

time, so their wavefunctions have the same t values. mic, so their wavefunctions have different x values!
1

The waves travelled different distances to reach the

Use this to relate the phase difference to the path difference L.
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In this case, depends only on the difference in path length, L.

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Example: Pirates vs Ninjas

beam

Two Ninjas board a pirates ship and head toward the mast when theyre spotted by a Pirate. They both attack with sound beam guns at the same time. The frequency of the beams is 940 Hz. Difference in phase at the microphone Difference in number of cycles Does the Pirate experience the beams as constructive or destructive interference, or somewhere in between?

Pirate

nd sou

soun d

m bea

5.00 m

Radians per cycle

1.00 m Ninja mast

3.00 m Ninja

Remember, this equation assumes: the waves were created in phase, and that nothing happened to them on the way.

Speed of sound = 344 m/s.

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Beats in sound are one particular case of superposition. When two periodic waves of very close (but not equal) wavelengths overlap, the combined wave will pulse, or beat.

Beats

Consider two sound waves with fa > fb. Then Ta < Tb. Choose t = 0 at a point where the waves are in phase at the place where were listening. (Call that position x = 0.) The next time the two waves will be in phase will be when wave a has gone through exactly one more cycle than wave b. The phase difference at this point will have increased by 2. Call this time t = Tbeat, the beat period. Let n = number of cycles wave a goes through in this time; then wave b goes through (n "1) cycles. !
"

wave 1 wave 2

Combined waveform
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Tbeat = nTa! for wave a Tbeat = (n "1)Tb! for wave b

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Solve one equation for n and plug it into the other, and rearrange. (We want to get rid if n, but keep Tbeat.) We get: Since f = 1/T, ip this over:

what constructive interference and destructive

interference are.

So now you know:

how you can determine what will happen when two

waves interfere by looking at the relative phase. frequencies interfere.

what happens when two sounds with very similar

This started with the denition fa > fb. In general: ! fbeat = |fa "fb|

So the beat frequency (the frequency of pulses) is just the difference in the two original frequencies.
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The Doppler Effect

I think most of you are familiar with the Doppler effect. Think of an engine or a siren going by. (Vreeeeewhooooooom...) Lets gure out how that works. First, a simulation:
http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/more_stuff/flashlets/doppler.htm

Doppler: Stationary listener

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Doppler: Stationary Listener

How do we determine the frequency of sound the listener hears, when the source is moving at speed vs? (Note that it will be different in front of or behind the moving source.) The speed of sound is whatever it is in the medium (e.g. air), regardless of how the source is moving. The time to generate one cycle of sound is the period (by denition): Ts = 1/fs. This is the time that goes by after one crest is generated before the next one comes out. During this time, the wave move a distance vTs, and the source moves a distance vsTs.
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The wavelength is the distance between crests in a snapshot. So its the distance to the last crest when the next crest is generated. Time t = 0 v vs
ping

vTs v

vsTs v
ping

vs Time t = Ts

Then the wavelength is the distance travelled by the rst crest plus the distance the source moved before producing the next crest. In front: = vTs vsTs = (vvs)Ts = (vvs)/fs. Behind the source: = vTs + vsTs = (v+vs)Ts = (v+vs)/fs.
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To nd out what frequency the listener hears, look at what happens to the period: TL, the period of the waves heard by the listener, is the time it takes two successive crests to pass the listener (regardless of where they came from). After one crest goes by, the wave has to travel a distance of for the next crest to reach the listener. The waves speed is v. Then TL = /v. That means fL = v/, and: behind the source in front of the source
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Doppler: Moving Listener

If the listener is moving in the same direction as the source, then the speed at which the waves are approaching the listener is v + vL. Then the time it takes for the listener to hear two successive crests is going to be TL = /(v + vL). Plug in lambda from before ((v+vs)/fs or (vvs)/fs) to get the general Doppler shift equation, for either a moving source or a moving listener or both:
The Doppler Effect for a moving source s and/or a moving listener L. v = speed of sound.

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e.g.: Car chases

police you

Example: Diana, Duck of Science

Diana, Duck of Science!, res her assistant Bob the Thrillseeking Cat out of a cannon at 30 m/s. At what frequency does Diana hear Bobs 1000 Hz meow, before and after Bob has passed her? If Diana sends a 10,000 Hz sound pulse at Bob after hes passed her, at what frequency does she hear the reection?

Quark!

L
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Sonic Boom
As we saw in the Doppler Effect sim, the faster an object is moving the more the waves in front of it bunch up. It takes an increasing amount of force to compress the air like that, the faster the plane goes; this is the sound barrier. Once the object is moving faster than the speed of sound, its outpacing the sound waves; each wave is generated outside the previous one. Waves pile up, and the result is a shock wave. Navy Lt. Ron Candiloro's F/A-18 Hornet Breaking the Sound Barrier

Recall that the wavelength of the sound in front of the object is given by: When vs = v, the wave length is zero "representing the waves piling up on top of each other, as we discussed. When vs > v, this equation is no longer meaningful!

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=43041
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The sound created at point S1 expands in all directions by a distance vt in time t. In that time the object moves forward by a distance vst. Then, from the diagram, the angle between the shockwave and the direction of motion is given by: or
shock wave angle
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what the Doppler Effect is, and what causes it. what the relationship is between the frequency of what causes a sonic boom.

So now you know:

sound produced by some source and the frequency detected by some listener, when one or both is moving.

Mach number:

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