3.

4 Sound
 Easy

Question 1
Which of the frequency ranges below is completely audible by a human who has average hearing?

a. 200 Hz to 200 kHz

b. 5 Hz to 50 kHz

c. 50 Hz to 5 kHz

d. 50 kHz to 50 MHz

Question 2
A tuba player plays a loud note on her tuba.

She then plays a quiet note of the same pitch.

Which property of the sound wave she produced has changed?

a. Frequency

b. Wavelength

c. Amplitude

d. Speed

Question 3
A high frequency note is played on a violin.

The violinist then reduces the frequency of the note.

What change in the note do the audience hear?

a. Pitch increases

b. Pitch decreases

c. Volume increases

d. Volume decreases

Question 4
Sound wave W has amplitude, A, and frequency, f.

Sound wave X is louder and lower in pitch than sound wave W.

What can be said about the amplitude and frequency of sound wave X?
 Question 5
Extended

Which of the following is not a use of ultrasound?

a. Scanning a fetus during pregnancy

b. Non-destructive testing of materials such as to find leaks in copper pipes

c. Mapping with sonar

d. Identifying broken bones

 Medium

Question 1
When objects vibrate, they produce sound waves.

An object in a room vibrates. However, a person in that same room does not hear anything. Why not?

a. The room contains no air.

b. The sound waves are travelling too fast.

c. The amplitude of the sound waves is too great.

d. The frequency of the sound waves is too great

Question 2
After a lockdown drill at a school, the management team notes that the lockdown siren is too quiet, and
its pitch is too low to be heard at a distance.

They call the company that supplied the siren and ask them to make the alarm louder, and to give it a
higher pitch.

What effect does the change have on the resulting sound wave produced by the siren?

a. It has a larger amplitude and a lower frequency.

b. It has a larger frequency and a lower amplitude.

c. It has a smaller frequency and a larger amplitude.

d. It has a larger frequency and a larger amplitude.

 Question 3
A teacher uses a piece of lab equipment called a signal generator, which he connects to a speaker.

This apparatus can be used to make a particularly irritating noise.

The teacher makes four sounds of different frequencies with the signal generator. Which one can be
heard by the student?

a. 10 Hz

b. 30 kHz

c. 440 Hz

d. 120 kHz

Question 4
Echoes can sometimes be heard where a person is surrounded by distant, hard, flat surfaces.

In Greek mythology, Echo is a mountain nymph who was cursed by Hera to be only able to repeat the
last words she heard. This ends tragically when she falls in love with Narcissus who, alas, loves only his
own reflection.

In Physics, which wave property causes an echo?

a. Reflection

b. Refraction

c. Diffraction

d. Dispersion

Question 5
A boy named Narcissus participates in a class experiment to measure the speed of sound. He finds the
large, flat wall of a building and stands a known distance away from it. He then claps his hands.

A very short time later, he hears the sound of the clap returning to him as an echo. Why?

a. The sound waves are reflected from the wall.

b. The sound waves are refracted by the wall.

c. The energy of the sound waves spreads out as they travel away from Narcissus.

d. The wind is blowing towards Narcissus, and the sound waves are blown back towards him.

 Hard

Question 1
In a common secondary school demonstration, a speaker is placed next to a lighted match.
A loud sound wave is played through the speaker, causing the flame to vibrate.

What type of wave is emitted from the speaker, and in which direction does the flame vibrate?

Question 2
A fishing boat uses sonar to locate a shoal of fish. The sonar system sends a pulse of sound towards the
shoal. When it hits the shoal, the sound wave is reflected and picked up by a detector underneath the
ship.

The speed of sound in water is 1500 m/s.

The pulse of sound waves is received 0.48 s after it is emitted.

How far from the boat is the shoal of fish?

a. 1563 m

b. 3125 m

c. 720 m

d. 360 m

Question 3
In the olympic 100 m sprint final, a starting pistol is used to tell the sprinters when to start.

A spectator, sitting in the viewing area 300 m away sees the smoke from the pistol 0.86 s before hearing
the bang. The spectator has exceptionally keen reactions and a very accurate internal clock.

Using only this information, what is the speed of sound in air?

a. 349 m/s

b. 330 m/s

c. 258 m/s

d. 698 m/s
 Question 4
A walker can see a cliff face some distance away, and wants to estimate how far away it is.

He makes a loud noise, and times how long it takes the echo to come back. It takes 1.8 s.

If the speed of sound is 345 m/s, how far away is the cliff?

a. 192 m

b. 96 m

c. 621 m

d. 311 m

Question 5
Ultrasound is high-pitched and cannot usually be heard by human ears. However, ultrasound does have
many uses.

Which statement, or statements, in the list below are correct uses of ultrasound?

1. Testing materials to find breaks or other damage

2. Medical scanning of organs and soft tissues

3. Radar systems to find distance and velocity

a. 1 only

b. 1 and 2

c. 2 and 3

d. 1, 2 and 3