BU3 REVIEWER MODULE 1

DEFINITION OF ACOUSTICS:

 The science of sound phenomena in buildings dealing with the production, transmission, and absorption of sound in order to
secure the distinct conditions in every part of the building or room.
 The science of sound and vibration which refers to the stress fluctuations as well as waves in a material medium.
 An environmental technology on sound and noise control in a man-made surrounding conducive to a clear understanding of
speech, better appreciation of music, and minimal noise interference.
 The art and science of designing a room or building which insures both comfort and communication, and provides special
features as the purpose and use of the structure requires.

TYPES OF ACOUSTICS

 PSYCHO ACOUSTICS – deals with the reaction of human beings to audible sound
 ENVIRONMENTAL ACOUSTICS – deals with the effects of the environment upon audible sound waves; may be broken down to
Architectural Acoustics and Landscape Acoustics
 ELECTRO ACOUSTICS – deals with the generation and detection of audible sound waves
 SONICS – deals with the technical application of mechanical waves in basic scientific research, industry, and medicine.

DEFINITION OF SOUND

 Any vibratory motion of bodies, the transmission of these vibrations in a medium, and the sensation produced on the human
auditory mechanism.
 An alteration in pressure (particle displacement in velocity) projected and propagated in an elastic material.
 Form of energy propagated in waves which continue to subsist until filtered through a material turning into heat by friction.

SOURCES OF SOUND

 SPEECH – produced by the human voice

 MUSIC – produced by an instrument
 NOISE – produced by impact, by vibrating bodies, even by speech or music

TYPES OF SOUND

 WANTED – sound heard as perfectly as possible at the right level or loudness without pain or strain
 UNWANTED – sound which entails an annoyance factor

PROPERTIES OF SOUND

 Sound must always have a SOURCE, A PATH, AND A RECEIVER.

 SPEED – sound travels at 1130 FT. PER SECOND OR 344 M. PER SECOND at normal room temperature (68°F); sound travels
faster in denser media.
 INTENSITY – rate at which sound energy is being transmitted, measured at any point in the medium; intensity diminishes
inversely as the square of the distance.
 DECIBEL – the unit in which sound intensity is defined for architectural purposes
 DECIBEL-METER – instrument by which sound intensity is measured
 SOUND PRESSURE – the fluctuation in the atmospheric pressure caused by the vibration of air particles due to a sound wave.
 LOUDNESS – subjective attribute of an auditory sensation in terms of which sounds may be ordered on a scale of soft to loud.
 THRESHOLD OF AUDIBILITY – minimum intensity that is capable of evoking an auditory sensation in the ear.
 THRESHOLD OF PAIN – minimum sound pressure level which stimulates the ear to a point which is painful
 FREQUENCY – the number of displacements or oscillations that a particle undergoes in 1 second.
 HERTZ – unit of frequency; numerically equal to cycles per second
 PITCH – the attribute of an auditory system which enables us to pinpoint sounds on a scale extending from high to low
frequency.
 TONE – sound sensation having pitch.
 WAVELENGTH – the distance a sound wave travels during each complete cycle of vibration measured in meters or feet.
 DIRECTIONAL OF SOUND SOURCES – sound sources radiate sound waves in all directions; radiation pattern varies with the
frequency; high frequency sounds are more pronounced along the longitudinal axis of the sound source.

NATURAL ELEMENTS THAT AFFECT SOUND

 TEMPERATURE – particles of sound tend to follow cold air

 CLOUDS – if heavy, clouds can act as a reflecting surface
 WIND – may change the direction of sound
 BODIES OF WATER – can also act as a reflecting surface

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND

 SOUND REFLECTION – sound reflected off a surface, usually one which is hard, rigid and/or flat.
 SOUND ABSORPTION – sound waves absorbed into a material upon contact; change of sound energy into some other form
 SOUND ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT (α) – fraction of energy of the incident sound absorbed by the surface; rates the efficiency of
sound absorption of a material at a specified frequency (0-1)
 NOISE REDUCTION COEFFICIENT (NRC) – arithmetic average of sound absorption coefficients at the frequencies 250, 500, 1000
and 2000 Hz, expressed to the nearest multiple of 0.05
 SURFACE ABSORPTION – sound absorption of a surface obtained by multiplying the area of the surface by its sound absorption
coefficient
 SOUND DIFFUSION – occurs when sound waves are dispersed equally in a room
 SOUND DIFFRACTION – acoustical phenomenon which causes sound waves to be bent or scattered around such obstacles as
corners, columns, walls, beams, etc.
 SOUND REFRACTION – change of sound wave direction as it moves from one medium to another of different density
 SOUND TRANSMISSION – sound which penetrates through a surface
 REVERBERATION – the prolongation of sound as a result of successive reflections in an enclosed space after the source of sound
is turned off.

ACOUSTICAL DEFECTS

 ECHO – sound waves which have been reflected to a listener with sufficient magnitude and time delay so as to be perceived
separately from those communicated directly from the source to the listener.
 LONG-DELAYED REFLECTION – similar to echo except that the time delay between the perception of direct and reflected sounds
is somewhat less.
 FLUTTER ECHO – a rapid succession of noticeable small echoes observed when a short burst of sound is produced between
parallel sound reflective surfaces.
 SOUND CONCENTRATION – sound reflections from concave surfaces concentrating in an area sometimes referred to as hot
spots. The intensity of sound at hot spots are always at the expense of dead spots.
 COUPLED SPACES – two rooms adjacent to each other by means of open doorways, with at least one space being highly
reverberant.
 DISTORTION – an undesirable change in the quality of musical sound due to the uneven and excessive sound absorption of the
boundary surfaces at different frequencies.
 ROOM RESONANCE – also called Coloration. Occurs when certain sounds within a narrow band of frequencies tend to sound
louder than other frequencies.
 SOUND SHADOW – occurs when an area does not receive an adequate amount of direct and reflected sound.
 WHISPERING GALLERY – high frequency sounds creeping along large concave surfaces such as a hemispherical dome.