BIOPHYSICS (HW-2)

DONE BY: NORAH ALGHAMDI

‫|الصفحة‬1
Q1: An ultrasound wave of intensity 600 Wm-2 passing through
a medium of 2cm thickness.
Calculate:
a) the intensity of the transmitted (after passing fat) wave.
b) the intensity of the absorbed wave
(Take the attenuation coefficient,  of the medium as,  =
1.0 dB/cm.
Solution:
Given:
o Wave intensity I0 = 600 Wm-2
o Medium thickness x = 2cm
o Attenuation coefficient  = 1.0 dB/cm

a) The intensity of the transmitted wave:

The transmitted intensity after passing through a length x

of material can be calculated using:
I =I 0 e−x
where I is the transmitted intensity after passing through a
length x of material.
I0 is the incident intensity.
So,
I =600 × e−1 × 2
I =81 W m−2

b) The intensity of the absorbed wave:

we have I0 = 600 Wm-2
I = 81 Wm-2
So, the intensity of the absorbed wave = I0 – I
¿ 600−81=519 W m−2

‫|الصفحة‬2
Q2: The reference intensity (I0) is known to be 1x10-12 W/m2.
What is the intensity level, β of a sound source having intensity
of 1x10-9 W/m2?

Solution:
Given:
I0=1x10-12 W/m2
I=1x10-9 W/m2
I
instensity level=10 log 10 ( ) I0
dB

1 x 10−9
instensity level=10 log 10 ( )
1 x 10−12
dB

instensity level=30 d B

‫|الصفحة‬3
Q3: In the human body, kidneys are in close proximity to the
muscles of the back. An ultrasound probe sends waves to the
kidney. By the time the waves reach the interface between the
kidney and the muscles, the intensity is 300 W m-2. Using the
data below, calculate:
a) The acoustic impedance, Z for the kidney tissue, and the
muscle tissue.
b) The reflection coefficient, R of the sound wave.
c) The transmission coefficient, D of the sound wave.
Tissue The density (kg/m3) The speed of sound wave (m/s)
Kidney 1000 1500
Muscle 900 1600

Solution:
The acoustic impedance of a material is defined by the
following equations:
Z=ρ ∙ v

Where:
o Z is the acoustic impedance in (kg m-2 s-1)
o ρ is the density in (kg m-3)
o c is the speed of sound in (m s-1)

a) The acoustic impedance, Z for the kidney tissue, and the

muscle tissue:
3
Z1 ( kidney )=1000 kg /m ×1500 m/s
6 2
Z1 ( kidney )=1.5 × 10 kg/m ∙ s
And:
Z2 ( m uscle)=900 kg/m3 × 16 00 m/ s
Z2 ( m uscle)=1. 44 × 106 kg /m2 ∙ s

‫|الصفحة‬4
 b) The reflection coefficient, R of the sound wave:
The coefficient of reflection is defined by the following
equations:
(Z 2−Z 1)2
R= 2
(Z 2 + Z 1)

(1.44 ×106 −1.5× 106 )2 1

R= 6 6 2
=
(1.44 ×10 +1.5 × 10 ) 2401

R=1.2 ×10−4

c) The transmission coefficient, D of the sound wave:

The coefficient of transmission is defined by the following
equations:
4 Z1 Z 2
D=
( Z 2 +Z 1 )2

4 ×1.5 ×106 ×1.44 × 106 2400

D= =
(1.44 ×106 +1.5 ×10 6)2 2401

D=0.9996 ≅ 1

‫|الصفحة‬5