[SOUND WAVES NOTES] Mr.

Michael Medhat

Waves

 Wave is a disturbance that travels through a medium, and transports energy

from one location to another.

 There are two types of waves:

Longitudinal waves Transverse waves

Such as sound waves
Particles vibrate parallel to wave direction
Cannot travel in vacuum (requires a
medium)
Such as water waves and light waves
Particles vibrate perpendicular to wave
direction
Can travel in vacuum (Do not require a
medium)

Nature of sound:

 Sound is a form of energy produced and transmitted by vibrating matter.

 Sound waves travels in the same direction of vibrating particles.
 Sound waves travels in longitudinal wave.
 Sound travels in Solids, liquids and gases. They are fastest in solids, slowest in gases
and intermediate speed in liquids; this is due to the nearness of the particles inside
the object, so the waves move easier and faster. In liquids, particles have more
space so waves travel with less speed. And finally in gases, particles are far apart so
it is not easy to travel through.
 Human ear hears the sound due to vibration in the ear drum.

What causes sound when object vibrates?

 When an object vibrates, it makes particles of air next to it vibrates too.

 Vibrating particles presses air particles together causing compression and
rarefactions.

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[SOUND WAVES NOTES] Mr. Michael Medhat

Oscilloscope
Oscilloscope is a device that senses and hears the
sound wave through a microphone and draws this
wave on a graph.

Wave properties

1) Amplitude: Is the height of wave from zero displacement to maximum or

minimum point
2) Wavelength: Is the distance between two identical points of successive waves.
From crest to crest, or trough to trough, or start of wave to start of another wave.
3) Frequency: Frequency is how many waves are made per second.
 Frequency is measured in Hertz "Hz"
 Humans hear from 20Hz to 20 000Hz.

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[SOUND WAVES NOTES] Mr. Michael Medhat

Relation between wave properties and sound

1) Loudness AND AMPLITUDE: Loudness is an indicator of high sound energy;

loudness depends on the amplitude of the wave.
 As amplitude increases, the loudness of the sound increases.
2) Pitch AND FREQUENCY: Pitch indicates the sharpness of the sound, pitch depends
on the frequency of the wave.
 As frequency increases, the higher the pitch.

Echo: Is the reflection of sound.

When the sound wave travels, hits a barrier and reflects back.

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[SOUND WAVES NOTES] Mr. Michael Medhat

Loudness and decibel:

The decibel (abbreviated dB) is the unit used to measure the intensity of a sound.
The decibel scale is a little odd because the human ear is incredibly sensitive. Your
ears can hear everything from your fingertip brushing lightly over your skin to a
loud jet engine. In terms of power, the sound of the jet engine is about
1,000,000,000,000 times more powerful than the smallest audible sound. That's a
big difference.

For example:

 Near total silence - 0 dB

 A whisper - 15 dB

 Normal conversation - 60 dB

 A car horn - 110 dB

 A rock concert or a jet engine - 120 dB

 A gunshot or firecracker - 140 dB

Any sound above 85 dB can cause hearing loss, and the loss is related both to the power

of the sound as well as the length of exposure. You know that you are listening to an 85-

dB sound if you have to raise your voice to be heard by somebody else. Eight hours of

90-dB sound can cause damage to your ears; any exposure to 140-dB sound causes

immediate damage (and causes actual pain).

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