Chapter 14

Sound
Chapter Outline
14.1 Producing a Sound Wave (p. 481)
KEY TERMS: compression, rarefaction
14.2 Characteristics of Sound Waves (p. 482)
Categories of Sound Waves (p. 482)
KEY TERMS: audible waves, infrasonic waves, ultrasonic waves
Applications of Ultrasound (p. 483)
KEY TERM: piezoelectric effect
14.3 The Speed of Sound (p. 484)
Table 14.1: Speeds of Sound in Various Media (p. 485)
Applying Physics 14.1: The Sounds Heard During a Storm (p. 485)
Example 14.1: Explosion over an Ice Sheet (p. 486)
14.4 Energy and Intensity of Sound Waves (p. 486)
KEY TERMS: intensity, threshold of hearing, threshold of pain
Intensity Level in Decibels (p. 486)
KEY TERM: decibel level (β)
Table 14.2: Intensity Levels in Decibels for Different Sources (p. 488)
Example 14.2: A Noisy Grinding Machine (p. 488)
14.5 Spherical and Plane Waves (p. 489)
KEY TERMS: intensity, point source, wave front, rays, plane wave
Example 14.3: Intensity Variations of a Point Source (p. 490)
14.6 The Doppler Effect (p. 491)
Case 1: The Observer is Moving Relative to a Stationary Source (p. 492)
Case 2: The Source is Moving Relative to a Stationary Observer (p. 492)
General Case (p. 493)
Applying Physics 14.2: Out-of-Tune Speakers (p. 494)
Example 14.4: Listen, But Don’t Stand on the Track (p. 494)
Example 14.5: The Noisy Siren (p. 495)
Shock Waves (p. 495)
KEY TERM: Mach number, shock wave
14.7 Interference of Sound Waves (p. 496)
Example 14.6: Two Speakers Driven by the Same Source (p. 497)
14.8 Standing Waves (p. 498)
KEY TERMS: superposition principle, standing wave, node, antinode,
fundamental frequency, harmonic series, first harmonic, second harmonic
(first overtone), third harmonic (second overtone), harmonic series
Example 14.7: Guitar Fundamentals (p. 501)
Example 14.8: Harmonics of a Stretched Wire (p. 502)
14.9 Forced Vibrations and Resonance (p. 503)
KEY TERM: forced vibration, resonant frequency, resonance
14.10 Standing Waves in Air Columns (p. 504)
Applying Physics 14.3: Oscillations in a Harbor (p. 506)
Applying Physics 14.4: Why Are Instruments Warmed Up? (p. 506)

49
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50 Sound Chapter 14

Applying Physics 14.5: How Do Bugles Work? (p. 506)

Example 14.9: Harmonics of a Pipe (p. 506)
Example 14.10: Resonance in a Tube of Variable Length (p. 507)
14.11 Beats (p. 508)
KEY TERM: beats
Example 14.11: Sour Notes (p. 509)
14.12 Quality of Sound (p. 510)
Applying Physics 14.6: Why Does the Professor Sound Like Donald Duck? (p.
511)
14.13 The Ear (p. 511)

Chapter Objectives
In this chapter, students will examine the properties and applications of sound waves.

14.1 Describe the production of sound waves. Identify sound as a longitudinal wave
traveling through a medium.
14.2 List and describe the categories of sound waves.
14.3 Calculate the speed of sound in various physical media. Determine the speed of
sound in air at different temperatures.
14.4 Calculate the energy and intensity of a sound wave.
14.5 Define a wave front, and differentiate between spherical and plane waves.
14.6 Describe the Doppler effect. Find the Doppler-shifted frequency when relative
motion exists between the source and observer.
14.7 Describe the conditions for constructive and destructive interference of sound
waves.
14.8 Define standing waves. Solve sample problems involving standing waves in
strings.
14.9 Give examples of forced vibrations and resonance.
14.10 Solve sample problems involving standing waves in vibrating air columns that
are both open and closed at one end.
14.11 Explain how the interference of waves can give rise to beats.
14.12 Connect the quality, or timbre, of sound to a distinct combination of harmonics.
14.13 Describe the general anatomy of the ear, and analyze an intensity verses
frequency plot for sounds perceived to be of equal loudness.

Lesson Plan for AP* Physics 1

AP* Physics 1 Curriculum Framework Components: Chapter 14

LO 6.A.2.1 [SPs 6.4 and 7.2]

LO 6.A.4.1 [SP 6.4]
LO 6.B.5.1 [SP 1.4]
LO 6.D.2.1 [SP 5.1]
LO 6.D.3.1 [SPs 2.1, 3.2, and 4.2]
LO 6.D.3.2 [SP 6.4]
LO 6.D.3.3 [SPs 3.2, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3]
LO 6.D.3.4 [SP 1.2]
LO 6.D.4.1 [SPs 1.5 and 6.1]

*AP and Advanced Placement Program are registered trademarks of the College Entrance Examination
Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

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Chapter 14 Sound 51

LO 6.D.4.2 [SP 2.2]

LO 6.D.5.1 [SP 1.2]

Suggested Time for AP Physics 1

10 traditional classes or 5 blocks. All sections in chapter 14 merit time to support the
Curriculum Framework for AP Physics 1, with exception of 14.13 (The Ear) which can be
skipped unless extra time allows or students express a strong interest.

Lesson Plan for AP* Physics 2

AP* Physics 2 Curriculum Framework Components: Chapter 14

None.

The content from Chapter 14 is outside any specific components of the AP Physics 2
Curriculum Framework.

Suggested Time for AP Physics 2

None.

Assessment
Quick Quizzes:
14.1 (p. 485)
14.2 (p. 494)
14.3 (p. 496)
14.4 (p. 500)
14.5 (p. 506)
14.6 (p. 506)
14.7 (p. 509)

Quick Quiz answers: Text p. A.38 (answers with explanations, IM p. 462)

Warm-Up Exercises: Text p. 515 (odd-numbered answers, Text p. A.39; answers with
explanations, IM pp. 462–465)

Conceptual Questions: Text pp. 516–517 (odd-numbered answers, Text p. A.39; even-
numbered answers, IM p. 465–466)

Problems: Text pp. 517–522 (odd-numbered answers, Text pp. A.39; even-numbered
answers, IM pp. 466–467; solutions, IM1 pp. 467–493)

Test Bank: Chapter 14 available on the Instructor's Companion Website

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52 Sound Chapter 14

Study Tips
Tip 14.1 Intensity Versus Intensity Level
Don’t confuse intensity with intensity level. Intensity is a physical quantity with units of
watts per meter squared; intensity level, or decibel level, is a convenient mathematical
transformation of intensity to a logarithmic scale.

Tip 14.2 Doppler Effect Doesn’t Depend on Distance

The sound from a source approaching at constant speed will increase in intensity, but
the observed (elevated) frequency will remain unchanged. The Doppler effect doesn’t
depend on distance.

Tip 14.3 Do Waves Really Interfere?

In popular usage, to interfere means “to come into conflict with” or “to intervene to affect
an outcome.” This differs from its use in physics, where waves pass through each other
and interfere, but don’t affect each other in any way.

Tip 14.4 Sound Waves Are Not Transverse

The standing longitudinal waves in Figure 14.23 are drawn as transverse waves only
because it’s difficult to draw longitudinal displacements: they’re in the same direction as
the wave propagation. In the figure, the vertical axis represents either pressure or
horizontal displacement of the elements of the medium.

Tip 14.5 Pitch Is Not the Same as Frequency

Although pitch is related mostly (but not completely) to frequency, the two terms are
not the same. A phrase such as “the pitch of the sound” is incorrect because pitch is not
a physical property of the sound. Frequency is the physical measurement of the number
of oscillations per second of the sound. Pitch is a psychological reaction to sound that
enables a human being to place the sound on a scale from high to low or from treble to
bass. Frequency is the stimulus and pitch is the response.

2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or part.