Principle of Sound

– Ts Norishahaini Mohamed Ishak

– Centre of Studies for Construction
– Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying
– UiTM Shah Alam
 Outline
§ Nature of Sound

§ Characteristic of Sound
Principle of
Sound § Sound Frequency Spectrum

§ Threshold of Sound

§ Sound Propagation
 After reading this lesson, students will be
able to :

§ discuss the basics, elements, nature and

Objectives characteristics of sound

§ recognize the principles, propagation,

refraction, reflection, absorption and
transmission of sound
 § Sound is a result of vibration.

§ The vibration is produced by a source, travels in the medium,

as a wave and is ultimately sensed through the ear

§ Understanding the nature of sound requires observations.

Introduction § All sounds are vibrations travelling through the air as sound
waves.

§ Sound waves are caused by the vibrations of objects and

radiate outward from their source in all directions

§ As sound travels, it reflects off objects, in its path, creating

further disturbances in the surrounding air.
Nature of Sound - Sound Wave
§ Sound is a mechanical wave and can be either
transverse or longitudinal wave.

§ As a mechanical wave, sound need medium (solid,

liquid or gas) to propagate but not in vacuum (no
medium).

§ The transverse wave is one in which the motion of

wave and of the particles are perpendicular to
each other (form only in fluids – air/gas and liquid).

§ In a longitudinal wave, the motions are in the

same direction can form in all the three media viz.
solid, liquid and gas
Nature of Sound - Sound Wave

§ As a longitudinal wave, sound is a

variation in pressure.

Ø A region of increased pressure

on a sound wave is called
compression (or condensation).

Ø A region of decreased pressure

on a sound wave is called
rarefaction (or dilation).
Nature of Sound - 1) Sound Wave cont.

Compression and Rarefraction

http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/waves/Lwave-Red-2.gif
Characteristic of Sound

a) Amplitude

§ The amplitude of a sound wave

corresponds to its intensity or loudness.

§ The intensity of a sound is a measure of

its power density usually measured on a
logarithmic scale. (λ)
(f)
§ The loudness of a sound is its intensity
as perceived by the human ear.

§ Wavelength (λ) = distance between any

two repeating points of wave measured https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-physics-1/ap-
mechanical-waves-and-sound/introduction-to-sound-waves-
in metre (m) ap/v/sound-properties-amplitude-period-frequency-wavelength
Characteristic of Sound
b) Frequency (f)
§ Defined as the number of cycles in one second, (Hz)

§ The frequency of a wave refers to how often the particles

of the medium vibrate when a wave passes through the
medium.

§ The frequency of a sound wave corresponds to its pitch.

§ The upper frequency limit for human hearing is around

20,000 to 20,000 Hz.

§ Period (T) - The time it takes to create one cycle

1
𝑓 =
𝑇
Characteristic of Sound
c) Pitch of Sound

§ The quality of a sound governed by the rate of

vibrations producing it; the degree of highness or
lowness of a tone.

§ The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency of

the sound wave.

§ High Frequency = High Pitch

§ Low Frequency = Low Pitch

Characteristic of Sound
d) Loudness of Sound

§ The loudness of sound depends upon the

amplitude of vibration.

§ If the amplitude is bigger, the sound is loud

and if the amplitude is smaller, the sound is
soft.

§ Loudness is a physiological sensation. It

depends mainly on sound pressure but also
on the spectrum of the harmonics and the
physical duration.
Characteristic of Sound
e) Speed of Sound (m/s-1)

§ Speed or Velocity = distance moved per second in a fixed direction

v=𝑓xλ
§ Speed of sound depends on:
Ø Elasticity = ability to bounce back. Faster if more elastic.
Solids are more elastic than liquids or gases thus sound travel
faster through solids
Ø Density = for material in the same state of matter, sound
travels slower in denser objects because the particles are
packed close to each other in fixed positions.
Ø Temperature = sound travel faster in higher temperature

§ Sound travels slowest in gases, faster in liquids, and fastest in

solids.
Sound Frequencies Spectrum

Frequencies (Hz) Also known as Remarks

1-20 Infrasound Not heard by human ears but can be

felt as vibration

20 – 20, 000 Audible The range of frequencies is also

Frequencies known as range of audible

20, 000 & above Ultrasound Mainly used in medical diagnosis

Sound Frequencies Spectrum

§ Sound contain a variety of frequencies

components that make up a complex wave

§ A frequency spectrum is a graph that

shows the amplitude of each component
frequency in a complex wave.

§ The graph below shows the sound pressure

level against frequency over time of the
car engine.

Example of sound spectrum of car engine

Threshold of Sound

§ Threshold of Hearing = the weakest sound the average

human ear can detect.

§ Threshold of Pain = the strongest sound that human ear

can tolerate.

§ The value of threshold varies slightly from one to another.

§ Intensity = 1 x 10-12 W/m2 (when measured as intensity)

§ Pressure = 20 x 10-6 Pa (when measured as pressure)

Sound Propagation
§ The sound propagation is when sound is generated in a place and it
moves or spread in all direction by air.

§ The principles of sound energy’s propagation are as follows:

Ø through a media via sound waves i.e. compression and
rarefaction of sound waves.

𝜆
Ø depends up on the frequency of sound source and the capacity

𝜆
of listener ear drum. C R C R C

Ø depends up on the weather conditions like air temperature,

c
=
m
presence of moisture, air velocity etc.

/s
Ø depends up on the topographical features like ground cover, hills
and obstacles between the source and receivers, type of space
Propagation of sound from a point source;
like open or closed. wavelength(𝜆), speed of sound in
medium(c), frequency = c /𝜆
,compression(C), rarefaction(R).
§ During their propagation, waves can be reflected, refracted,
transmitted, absorbed or attenuated by the medium
Check out this video https://youtu.be/WqnF-VPfGPw
Sound Propagation - Refraction of Sound

§ Sound waves are refracted when parts of a wave

front travel at different speeds

§ This happens in uneven winds or temperatures

§ Sound waves tend to bend away from warm

ground, since it travels faster in warmer air•

§ On a cold night, the speed of sound is slower

near the ground than above, so we can hear over
larger distances
Sound Propagation - Reflection of Sound

§ Sound follows the same rule as light: the angle

of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

§ Sound waves can be reflected by large, hard,

smooth, vertical and faraway surfaces, e.g.
walls, buildings and cliffs.

§ Echoes are produced by the reflections of

sounds from such surfaces.
Sound Propagation - Transmission of Sound

§ Sound follows the same rule as light: the angle

of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.

§ Sound waves can be reflected by large, hard,

smooth, vertical and faraway surfaces, e.g.
walls, buildings and cliffs.

§ Echoes are produced by the reflections of

sounds from such surfaces.
Sound Propagation – Absorption of Sound

§ Sound absorption is defined, as the incident sound

that strikes a material that is not reflected back

§ When a sound wave strikes an acoustical material

the sound wave causes the fibers or particle
makeup of the absorbing material to vibrate.

§ This vibration causes tiny amounts of heat due to

the friction and thus sound absorption is
accomplished by way of energy to heat conversion.