Sound

Introduction:
The sensation felt by our years is called sound .Sound is a form of energy which makes us here
law of conservation of energy is also applicable to sound. Sound travels in the form of a wave.
Production/Propagation of Sound: Sound is produced when an object vibrates or is produced by
vibrating objects.
Characteristics of the medium required for the propagation of sound:
(i) Medium must be elastic so that the medium particles have the tendency to return back to their
original positions after the displacement.
(ii) Medium must have the inertia so that its particles have the capacity to store the energy.
The frictional resistance of the medium should be negligible to minimize the loss of energy in
propagation.
Medium:
The matter or substance through which sound is transmitted is called a medium. It can be solid,
liquid or gas. Air is the most common medium for sound propagation.
Wave: A wave is a disturbance that moves through a medium when the particles of the medium
set neighboring particles into motion. Sound is a mechanical, longitudinal wave.

Compression is the region of maximum density or pressured and rare faction is the region of
minimum density or pressure
There are 2 types of mechanical waves1) longitudinal eg Sound and 2) transverse eg waves on
the water surface,

Characteristics of a sound wave:

Frequency the number of complete waves produced in a second or the number of vibrations per
second is called frequency .The SI unit of frequency is Hertz holds s equal to 1 vibration per
second .The bigger unit of frequency is the kHz is equal to 1000Hz .
Time period :The time taken to complete one vibration is called the time period the SI unit of
time period is seconds time period is denoted by ‘t’ the frequency of a wave is the reciprocal of
1
the time period. v=
t
Amplitude :The maximum displacement of the particle of the medium from their original
undisturbed position is called amplitude of the wave .
Pitch: The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency of that sound .
 Sound

Speed of sound:v=λ/t

Reflection of sound:Like light sound also bounces back when it falls on hard surface, it was
called reflection of sound. The laws of reflection of light are also obeyed in the reflection of
sound
Echo: Echo: In bigger monuments and in large empty halls you can hear reflections of your
sound after you speak something. This effect is known as echo. The sensation of sound persists
in our brain for 0.1 seconds, so to hear echo the time difference between original sound and
reflected sound should be more than that.
As you know speed of sound in air is = 344 m/s And 344 x 0.1 = 34.4 metre
So, the minimum distance required to hear an echo from a reflecting wall or surface should be
half of 34.4, means it should be 17.2 metres.
Reverberation: Repeated reflections of sound results in persistence of sound and is called
reverberation.Following instruments use this property of sound:Megaphones, Shehanais,
Trumpets, Stethoscope,Curved dome of concert halls
Range of Hearing in humans:
From 20 Hz to 20000 Hz, Sounds below 20 Hz are called infrasonic, Sounds above 20000 Hz are
Called ultrasonic

The ear is a sensitive organ of the human body. It

is mainly involved with detecting, transmitting and
transducing sound and maintaining a sense of Human Ear
balance is another important function of the human
ear. Human ear includes:

 The outer ear or the visible part of the ear is

called the pinna.
 Pinna collects sound from the surroundings.
 Sound passes through a tube called an
auditory canal.
 Eardrum (tympanic membrane) vibrates in
response to incident sound waves.
 Vibrations are amplified and transmitted
further by three bones hammer, anvil and
stirrup in the middle ear to the inner ear.
 In the inner ear, cochlea converts pressure
signals into electrical signals.
 Electrical signals are transmitted by the
auditory nerve to the brain for
interpretation.