SOUND WAVES

Sound waves are longitudinal waves in which alternate regions of compressions and rare fractions
move away from a source. When the compressions and rarefactions of the waves strike the
eardrum, they result in the sensation of sound, provided the frequency of the waves is between 20
Hz and 20 kHz. Waves with frequencies above 20 kHz are called ultrasonic waves, while those
with frequencies below 20Hz are called infrasonic waves.

wavefronts 

Ray 

S 

Ray 
Fig 1. Sound wave

Fig 1 illustrate how sound wave travels from appoint source s, through a three dimensional
medium. The wave fronts form spheres center on s. the wavefronts are surfaces over which the
oscillations due to sound wave have the same value usually such surfaces are represented by whole
or partial circles in a two dimensional drawing for a point source. The rays are radial to s. the rays
are directed lines perpendicular to the wavefronts that indicate the direction of travel of the
wavefronts. The short, double-headed arrows indicate that the longitudinal oscillations are parallel
to the rays.
Near a point source s, the wavefronts are spherical and spread out in three dimensions and there
the waves are said to be spherical. As the wavefronts move outward and their radii become larger,

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the curature decreases. Far from the source, we approximate wavefronts as plane or lines on two
dimensional drawings and the waves are said to be planar.

Echoes:
A noise made by clapping hands, or shouting, is reflected from a hand surface, such as a high wall
or a cliff. The original sound is heard, followed by the reflected sound. The reflected sound is
called an echo. The time that elapses between hearing the original sound, and hearing the echo,
depends on the distance of the reflecting object and on the velocity of sound in air. If this time is
less than 0.1s, then the human ear cannot distinguish between the original and the echo. If the time
between hearing the original sound and the echo is just less than 0.1s, the original sound appears
to be prolonged, this is called reverberation. A large hall, such as a concert hall produces multiple
sound reflections from the walls, floors and ceilings. The general effect of shouting in a large
empty hall is a reverberation that lasts for several seconds. The time taken for a sound of a specified
intensity to die away is called the reverberation time of the building. The reverberation time differs
for an empty hall and for one filled with an audience. The clothes of the audience, being of soft
material, deaden the sound by absorbing it, so reduces reverberation time. If the reverberation time
is too long, then music and speech become confused and indistinct. If there is no reverberation at
all, then music and speech become weaker, some degree of reverberation is necessary to improve
hearing in a large building.

Equations of Sound Speed:

In an ideal gas of molecular mass M and absolute temperature T, the speed of sound v is given by;

γRT
V= (Ideal gas)
M
Where R is the gas constant and γ is the ratio of specific heats c p c v . γ is about 1.67 for

monoatomic gases (He, Ne, Ar) and about 1.40 for diatomic gases (N2, O2, H2). c p is the specific

heat in constant pressure while c v is the specific heat in constance volume.

The speed of compression waves in other materials is given by:

modulus
V=
density

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If the material is in the form of a bar, Young’s modulus Y is used. For liquids, one must use the
bulk modulus

Speed of sound in air

The speed of sound in air at 0 is 331 m s .  The speed increases with temperature by about
0.61 m s for each 1 rise. More precisely, sound speeds v1  and v 2 at absolute temperature T1

and T2 are related by

V1 T1
=
V2 T2

The speed of sound is essentially independent of pressure, frequency and wavelength

Intensity
The intensity (I) of any wave is the energy per unit area, per unit time; in practice, it is the average
power carried by the wave through a unit area erected perpendicular to the direction of propagation
of the wave. Suppose that in a time t , an amount of energy E is carried through an area A
that is perpendicular to the propagation of the wave. Then
E
I=
A t
Pav
=
ΔA
It may be shown that for a sound wave with amplitude ao and frequency f, travelling with speed v,
in a material of density ρ,
I = 2π 2 f 2 ρ v a 02

If f is in Hz, ρ is in kgm-3, v is in ms-1 and a0 (the maximum displacement of atoms or molecules

of the medium) in m, then I is in Wm-2

Loudness
This is a measure of the human perception of sound. Although a sound wave of high intensity is
perceived as louder than a wave of lower intensity. The relation is far from linear. The sensation

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of sound is roughly proportional to the logarithm of the sound intensity. But the exact relation
between loudness and intensity is complicated and not the same for all individuals.

Intensity or Loudness Level (B):

This is defined by an arbitrary scale that corresponds roughly to the sensation of loudness. The
zero on this scale is taken as the sound-wave intensity I0 = 1.00  1012 Wm 2 , which corresponds
roughly to the weakest audible sound. The intensity level, in decibels is defined by

 I
B = 10 log  
 I0 

The decibel (dB) is a dimensionless unit. The normal ear can distinguish between intensities that
differ by an amount down to about 1 dB.

Beats:

The alterations of maximum and minimum intensity produced by the superposition of two waves
of slightly different frequencies are called beats. The number of beats per second is equal to the
difference between the frequencies of the two waves that are combined.

Doppler Effect

The Doppler Effect is the change in frequency or wavelength of a wave as the source and
observer move relative to each other.

Suppose that a moving sound source emits a sound of frequency fS . Let V be the speed of sound,

and let the source approach the listener or observer at a speed VS , measured relative to the medium
conducting the sound. Suppose further that the observer is moving toward the source at the speed
V0 , also measured relative to the medium. Then the observer will hear a sound of frequency f 0
given by:

V + V0
f 0 = fS
V  VS

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If either the source or observer is moving away from the other, the sign on its speed in the equation
must be changed. When the source and observer are approaching each other, more wave crests
strike the ear each second than when both are at rest. This causes the ear to perceive a higher
frequency than that emitted by the source. When the two are receding the opposite effect occurs;
the frequency appears to be lowered

Because V + Vo, is the speed of a wave crest relative to the observer, and V – Vs, is the speed of a
wave crest relative to the source, an alternative form is

crest speed relative to observer

f 0 = fS
crest speed relative to source

Interference effects:

Two sound waves of the same frequency and amplitude may give rise to easily observed
interference effects at a point which they both pass. If the crests of one wave fall on the crest of
the other, the two waves are said to be in-phase. In that case, they reinforce each other, and give
rise to a high intensity at that point.

However, if the crests of one fall on the troughs of the other, the two waves will exactly cancel
each other. No sound will be heard at the point. We say that the tow waves are 180° (or a half
wavelength) out-of-phase.

Intermediate effects are observed if the two waves are neither in phase nor 180° out-of -phase,
but have a fixed phase relationship somewhere in-between.

Applications

1. Sonar: This stands for sound navigation and ranging. Navigation means finding your way
while ranging means find the distance between two objects. The sonar is a system of
detecting reflected sound waves used to determine

- Depth of water

- Locate a sunken ship or cargo

- Locate boats on the ocean

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 - Forecasting weather

- Tracking of ships, submarines and missiles

2. Ultrasound in the ocean

- Dolphins and whales use echolocation to identify prey and to find their way.

- Fishermen attach ultrasonic beepers to their nets to keep dolphins away from their
catch

- Swimmers wear ultrasonic beepers to keep sharks away when they dive

3. Ultrasound in Medicine

- Disintegration of kidney stories

- Sonograms: Here ultrasound doctors use this to get picture of things inside the
body

4. Ultrasound at home

- Ultrasonic toothbrushes; sound can reach into places the bristles cannot, cleaning
your teeth better

- Jewelry cleaner: Sound vibrations shake off dirt off your jewelry without causing
damage

- Auto focus camera; this uses ultrasound to find the distance of an object

- Parking sensor: this uses ultrasonic proximity detectors embedded in the front
and/or rear bumpers, to measure the distances to nearby objects at low level.

Examples:

1. An explosion occurs at a distance of 6 km from a person. How long after the explosion
does the person hear it? Assume the temperature is 14 .

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Solution:

Because the speed of sound increases by 0.61 ms-1 for each 1 , we have:

V = 331 + (0.61 X 14)

= 340 ms-1

Using, s = vt,

t=

= 17.65

2. Computer the speed of sound in neon gas at 27 . For neon M = 20.18 kgkmol-1

Solution:

Neon, being monoatomic, has = 1.67

V=

.
=
.

= 454 ms-1

3. A sound has an intensity of 3 x 10-8 Wm-2. What is the sound level in dB?

B = 10 log (
.

.
= 10 log
.

= 44.8 dB

4. A noise level meter reads the sound level in a room to be 85 dB. What is the sound
intensity in the room?
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  I 
B = 10 log  12 
= 85 dB
 1×10 

 I  85
log  12 
=
 1×10  10

 I   85 
 12 
= antilog  
 1×10   10 

I = 1×1012  3.16 ×108

= 3.16 ×104 Wm 2

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