ECE PE3 / ECE 515:

BROADCAST ENGINEERING
& ACOUSTICS

ENGR. JUNARD P. KAQUILALA

 ACOUSTICS
• THE SCIENCE THAT STUDIES SOUNDS
• THE GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, AND
RECEPTION OF ENERGY IN THE FORM OF
VIBRATIONAL WAVES IN MATTER
 SOUND

• A PHYSICAL WAVE, OR VIBRATION

 MAIN SUB-DISCIPLINE OF ACOUSTICS

• ARCHITECTURAL • MUSICAL ACOUSTICS

ACOUSTICS • UNDERWATER
• LOUDSPEAKER ACOUSTICS
ACOUSTICS • ACOUSTIC
• AEROACOUSTICS ENGINEERING
• BIOMEDICAL • BIOACOUSTICS
 SOUND WAVES
• THE FREQUENCY OF SOUND
WAVES THAT CAN BE HEARD BY
HUMAN EAR IS:
• 20-20,000 HZ (AUDIBLE)
• SONIC
 SOUND WAVES
• SOUND WAVES THAT ARE BELOW 20HZ ARE
CALLED INFRASONIC
EXAMPLE: OCEAN WAVES, WATER FALLS, ETC.

• SOUND WAVES ABOVE 20,000 HZ ARE

CALLED ULTRASONIC
 SOUND WAVES: VELOCITY OF
PROPAGATION
•  

WHERE:
P0 = STEADY PRESSURE OF THE GAS IN N/m2
ρ0 = STEADY DENSITY OF THE GAS IN kg/m3
γ = specific heat / volume
 SOUND WAVES: VELOCITY OF
PROPAGATION
•  

FOR TC <= 20C

FOR TC > 20C

 SPEED OF SOUND
• MEDIUM VELOCITY M/SEC

AIR (20 C) 343

AIR (0 C) 331
WATER (25 C) 1493
SEA WATER 1533
DIAMOND 12000
IRON 5130
COPPER 3560
GLASS 5640
EXAMPLE
•DETERMINE THE SPEED OF
SOUND IN A GAS MEDIUM AT
STP.
EXAMPLE
•A CAMERA FOCUSES USING
ULTRASOUND. IF IT FOCUSES
PRECISELY AT 200C, WHAT IS
THE VELOCITY OF SOUND?
 ATTRIBUTES OF SOUND
Pitch
- description of how high or low
the sound seems to a person

Loudness
- how loud or soft a sound

Phon = 40 + 10log2Sone
 ATTRIBUTES OF SOUND
Timbre
- quality of a sound
- can be considered the texture
or color of a sound
Duration
- the time interval between its
beginning and end points
LOUDNESS OF SOUND IN DECIBELS
Sound Loudness (dB) Hearing
Damage
Average Home 40-50

Loud Music 90-100 After long

exposure
Rock Concert 115-120 Progressive

Jet Engine 120-170 Pain

EXAMPLE
• GIVEN THE FOLLOWING DATA:
Loudness (sone) Loudness
Level (phon)
3.2 55
5.4 62
5.9 63
4.7 60

COMPUTE FOR:
a. TOTAL LOUDNESS
b. TOTAL LOUDNESS LEVEL
 FREQUENCY PARAMETERS
 

WHERE:
fF = fundamental frequency
 FREQUENCY PARAMETERS
 

WHERE:
fF = fundamental frequency
n = number of overtone
 FREQUENCY PARAMETERS
   

WHERE: WHERE:
fF = fundamental frequency fF = fundamental frequency
n = number of octave n = number of decade
EXAMPLE
•A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT HAS A
FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY OF 261.6HZ.
CALCULATE THE 3RD HARMONICS, 3RD
OVERTONES, 3RD OCTAVES, AND 3RD
DECADES OF THIS FUNDAMENTAL
FREQUENCY.
 DOPPLER EFFECT
•  
 DOPPLER EFFECT
•  
EXAMPLE
• ON A STANDARD DAY, THE SPEED OF
SOUND IS 345M/S. A WHISTLE
WHOSE FREQUENCY IS 1000HZ IS
MOVING TOWARDS AN OBSERVER AT
A SPEED OF 52.0M/S. WHAT IS THE
FREQUENCY OF THE SOUND HEARD
BY THE OBSERVER?
EXAMPLE
• A TRAIN MOVING AT A SPEED OF 50M/S
SOUNDS ITS WHISTLE, WHICH HAS A
FREQUENCY OF 620HZ. THE SPEED OF
SOUND ON THIS PARTICULAR DAY IS 335M/S.
DETERMINE THE FREQUENCY HEARD BY THE
STATIONARY OBSERVER
A.) AS THE TRAIN APPROACHES AND
B.) AS THE TRAIN MOVES AWAY.
 SOUND FIELDS
Sound Field
- a technical name given to the dispersion
of sound energy within given boundaries

Types of Sound Field:

1. Near Field
2. Far Field
NEAR FIELD VS FAR FIELD
 TWO SECTION OF FAR FIELD
1. Free Field
- sound waves reach an observer directly
from a sound emitting object

2. Reverberant / Diffusion Field

- sound waves reach the observer from all
directions
 SOUND POWER
 
 EXAMPLE

Determine the total PWL of 3 motors with

a radiated acoustic power of 25mW, 40mW,
and 85mW respectively.
 SOUND INTENSITY
 
 EXAMPLE
You are at a party and talking with a group of people.
They all produce sound intensity levels of the same
magnitude at your position. The combined sound
intensity level when all four talks at once is 70dB.
a. What is the sound intensity level from one person?
b. What is the sound intensity from one person?
c. If two additional people joined the conversation with
an individual sound intensity level of 68 dB each,
compute for the new combined intensity level.
 SOUND PRESSURE

 
 SOUND PRESSURE
Sound Pressure Level
For different sound pressure units:
 EXAMPLE
Calculate the effective SPL for a telephone
ring, an operating vacuum cleaner, and an
air conditioner with an individual SPL of 82
dB, 76 dB, and 80 dB respectively relative
to 20uPa.
EXAMPLE

If the effective sound pressure is 5 lb/ft2,

what is the sound pressure level?
 SOUND INTENSITY & PRESSURE
 
EXAMPLE

What is the intensity of sound in dry air

whose effective pressure is 81.2 x 10 Pa
-3

with a density of 1.23 kg/m3 at a

temperature of 25 C?
0
EXAMPLE

Assuming ρ = 1.29 kg/m3 for the density of

air and speed of sound is 331m/s, find the
pressure amplitude(peak) corresponding to
the sound intensity of 1 x 10 W/m .
-12 2
EXAMPLE
If two sound waves, one in air and the
other in water, have equal pressure
amplitudes, what is the ratio of the
intensities of the waves? Assume that the
density of air is 1.293kg/m3, and the speed
of sound in air and water is 330 and
1450m/s, respectively.
 SOUND INTENSITY & POWER

 
EXAMPLE
A small source of sound radiates energy
uniformly at a rate of 4W. Calculate the
intensity and the intensity level at a point 25
cm from the source if there is no
absorption.
EXAMPLE
A car horn outdoors a sound intensity
level of 90 dB at 10 m away. At this
distance, what is the sound power in
watt?
EXAMPLE
The sound power level of a certain jet
plane flying at a height of 1 km is 160
dB. Find the sound pressure level on
the ground directly below the flight path
assuming that the aircraft radiates
sound equally in all directions. Assume
the density of air is 1.29 kg/m , speed
3

of sound is 330 m/s.