Acoustics Module 1

Monday, 22 May 2023 10:24 pm

What is Acoustics
- Is the branch of physics that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as:
Vibration
Sound
Ultrasound - frequencies above and below the audible range
Infrasound
- Derived from the Greek word akoustikos meaning "for hearing/ready to hear" akoustos, "heard/audible" akouo, "I hear".
Definition
a. Science of sound, including its production, transmission and effects, including biological and psychological effects.
b. Those qualities of a room that, together, determine its character to auditory effects.
• Sonic - Latin for sound and synonym of acoustics and later a branch of it.
• Acoustician - a scientist who works in the field of acoustics
• Acoustic Engineer - someone working in the acoustic technology

Application
- Audio and noise control industries

• Psychoacoustics - the study of the physical effects of sound on biological systems

• Pythagoras - has been interested in the sounds of vibrating strings and of hammers hitting anvils in the 6th Century BC
Application of modern ultrasonic technology
- Developments in medicine, music, architecture, industrial production, warfare and more.
• Ear - biological instrument dedicated to receiving certain wave vibrations and interpreting them as a sound.
• Hearing - most crucial means of survival in the animal world.
• Speech - distinct characteristic of human development and culture

Robert Bruce Lindsay's 'Wheel of Acoustics'

The study of acoustics revolves around the generation, propagation (Multiplication or increase, as by natural reproduction), and reception of
mechanical waves and vibrations.
1 Cause > 2 Generating mechanism (transduction) > 3 Acoustic wave (propagation) > 4 Reception > 5 Effect
Cause - natural and volitional (The act of making a conscious choice or decision)
Transduction process convert energy from some form into sonic energy, producing sound wave.
Sound wave propagation (the acoustic wave equation) carries energy throughout the propagating medium.

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M1 L2 Acoustics
Tuesday, 23 May 2023 2:03 am

What is Sound?
Sound wave - are pressure waves with alternating regions of compressed air and non-compressed (rarefied) atoms. Typically these
waves occur in air, but they can also occur in other media such as fluids, and even solids.

1. How do soundwaves travel

- We often depict sounds waves visually as an undulating (movement/motion) line with the peak of the wave representing the
compressed air and the valley the rarefied air.

2. Understanding Pressure
- A sound wave is an atom that travels through a medium by means of particle-to-particle interaction. As one particle becomes
disturbed, it exerts a force on the next adjacent particle, thus disturbing that particle from rest and transporting the energy
through the medium.

3. How ears work

- Audible frequencies range from 20 Hertz (Hz) to 20,000 Hz (Hertz = cycles or peaks per second). Humans are most sensitive
to sounds in the 1000-3000 Hz range.
- Our sense of hearing perceives different frequencies as different pitches. For example, low-frequency sound waves are
perceived as low-pitched sounds and high-frequency sound waves are perceived as high-pitched sounds.

4. How microphone and speaker work

- Acoustics is the study of sound in some mechanical form—whether in air or some other medium. In the recording industry,
the term “audio” generally refers to an electrical representation of an acoustic signal. Audio is a convenient way to
transmit, manipulate, and store sound. However, we are not able to hear audio signals until they have been turned back into
acoustic signals. Our experience of sound is always acoustic, regardless of whether electronics were involved in the path from
the source to our ears.

5. Understanding Air - play the video for explanation

6. Frequency and Amplitude

- Is what we perceive as sound. The frequency of sound is expressed as the number of peaks of the sound wave that pass
a stationary point each second.
The amplitude of the sound wave is the degree of compression and rarefaction (A decrease in density and pressure in a
medium, such as air, caused by the passage of a sound wave. Amplitude determines the loudness of the sound. The loudness
of a sound is measured in decibels (dB).
7. Loudness and Intensity
A whisper measures about 30 dB while normal conversation measures about 60 dB. The decibel scale is a log scale which
means that for every 10 dB increase there is a 10-fold increase in intensity, hence normal conversation is about 1000 times
louder than a whisper. Sounds that are too loud can damage the hearing apparatus and cause severe hearing loss. The pain
threshold for sound is about 120 dB.

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8. Particle Motion:
Understanding Wind movement vs Sound
Sound depends on the medium through which it travels, so any factors that influence the state of the medium can in turn
affect the traveling of sound. Wind, among other factors, can impinge (to collide) on sound transmission, by causing noise,
attenuation (the reduction in strength of the transmitted sound signal), or a change in the direction of the sound path known
as refraction.

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M1 L3 Acoustics
Tuesday, 23 May 2023 2:16 am

Nature of Sound
Sounds are just vibrations that we can hear. These vibrations happen when some object moves up and down or back and forth
rhythmically. Usually, we hear sounds in air, but we can also hear sound in solid objects. Put your ear to the wall sometime. The air
vibrates sound waves similar to the kind of waves you see on the ocean. The difference is that sound waves go back and forth
whereas water waves go up and down. We hear different sounds depending on how far apart these waves are. The different
sounds are called frequencies.
Frequency is the amount of cycles of a wave per second. The unit of frequency is called Hertz. When the frequency is
higher, and more waves fit into the same space, the pitch sounds higher, like a bird chirping.

The loudness of the sound is called the amplitude . A very soft sound has low amplitude. A very loud sound has high
amplitude. A sound with high amplitude pushes the sound molecules with greater force, creating the increase in loudness that you
hear.

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