Chapter 17

ACOUSTIC PHENOMENA/ SOUND WAVES

Sound is a wave created by vibrating objects and propagated

through a medium from one location to another.

Sound wave is a longitudinal wave

 loudspeaker compression
no sound
sound wave
wave

wavelength
rarefaction

Through air a sound wave consists of a series of compressions and

rarefactions.

A compression is a region of slightly higher pressure where the air

molecules are closer together than usual.
A rarefaction is the opposite.

The wavelength of the sound wave is equal to the distance

between the centres of two successive compressions.
Process of Hearing (Transduction)
 Types of sound waves
Range of Hearing

• Audible waves
– Lay within the normal range of hearing of the human ear
– Normally between 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz
• Infrasonic waves
– Frequencies are below the audible range (20 Hz)
– Earthquakes are an example
• Ultrasonic waves
– Frequencies are above the audible range (20 kHz)
– Dog whistles are an example
The Audible Frequency Range
 Audible Sound

A healthy young child : 20 to 24 kHz

A healthy young person : 20 to 16 kHz

A healthy Middle-aged person : 20 to 16 kHz

A healthy elderly person : 20 to 8 kHz

 Infrasound
While humans cannot consciously
detect infrasound, they may
still be sensitive to the
vibrations:
In particular, infrasound is known
evoke feelings of awe and fear,
and frequencies close of 18 Hz,
the resonant frequency of the
eye, may cause optical illusions
of “ghosts.” Infrasound may
be responsible for many
alleged “hauntings.”
 Infrasound is a sound that is below the range of human hearing (below 20 Hz).
Some animals use infrasound to communicate.
Infrasound is also produced by volcanoes and earthquakes. Some people believe
that animals can sense these infrasounds before the eruptions or earthquakes start.
 Ultrasonic waves
Ultrasound is a sound that is above the range of human hearing (above 20 KHz).
Some animals like Bat, Dolphin use ultrasound to communicate.
 Echo

• Sound hits an object and bounces back

• You hear the bounce
 Echolocation
Ultrasound is used in nature by bats for echolocation; they can identify
the location and speed of flying insects.

Dolphins use echolocation to help them find and capture food.

Echolocation is Nature’s Sonar.

 Echolocation Movie

Special glasses that make use of sonar can

help blind people by producing sounds of
different pitches depending on how close an
obstacle is
 SONAR
(Sound Navigation And Ranging)
• This uses the idea of sound bouncing back.
– Scientists know how fast sound travels in water.
• How can the fisherman locate the position of the fish? They can
use the speed = frequency x wavelength and speed = distance/time
Remember it is there and back so the answer needs to be halved.
Fig. 12.18

17
 Prudence Island Shipwreck
[25]

AUVfest 2008, SAS12 images show a number of

features on the Prudence Island Shipwreck and great
detail on the surrounding bottom. Note the anchor just
below the ship’s stern and the chain for the marker
[25] buoy on the left.
Medical images from ultrasound
• The ultrasound is sent into the patients body.

• At each boundary between different tissues or organs some of

the ultrasound is reflected.

• The depth of each layer is calculated using the time taken for
each reflected wave to return.

• The reflected waves (echoes) are usually processed to produce

a picture of the inside of the body on a screen.

Seeing With Sound

Sonogram
OB Ultrasound

Sonogram
 Cardiac Ultrasound
Echocardiography
The ‘BladderScan’ by Verathon
 Treating with Ultrasound
Sometimes small, hard deposits of calcium compounds or
other minerals form in the kidneys, making kidney stones.

Ultrasonic treatments are commonly used to break them up.

Bursts of ultrasound create vibrations that cause the stones to
break into small pieces.

These fragments then pass out of the body with the urine.
The Speed of Sound

Sound travels through gases,

liquids, and solids at considerably
different speeds.

vsolids > vliquids > vgases

Sound cannot travel in Vacuum
 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND

Three basic characteristics: pitch, intensity, and quality

The PITCH depends upon the FREQUENCY of the waves

The INTENSITY depends upon the AMPLITUDE of the waves

The QUALITY depends upon the FORM of the waves.

 PITCH
Pitch – a description of how high or how low a sound seems to a person.
A sound wave with a lower frequency and longer wavelength is perceived to have a
lower pitch.

A sound wave with a higher frequency and shorter wavelength is perceived to have a
higher pitch.
 The Frequency of sound
• The pitch of a sound is how you
hear and interpret its frequency.

Each person is saying “Hello”.

Different sounds are made by changing both the vibrations in the larynx and
the shape of the openings.
 Low frequency sound waves = low pitch

When things vibrate slowly they make a low sound.

High frequency sound waves = high pitch

When things vibrate quickly they make a high pitched sound.

• When a longer piano string vibrates, it
vibrates more slowly and creates a low pitch.

• When a shorter piano string vibrates, it

vibrates faster and creates a higher pitch.

Listen to different pitches:

 INTENSITY
The Power of Sound

Sound waves carry energy that can do work

Amount of energy transported per second = power

As sound moves away from a source, it spreads out over a larger

and larger area
Intensity: the rate at which a wave’s energy flows through an area

P  2
I  W / m 
A 

• Sound intensity depends on

– Amplitude
– Distance from source
• Measured in decibels (dB)
 Inverse Square Law

radius B = 2 radius A

area B = 4 area A

intensity B = 1/4 intensity A B A

Psource
I
4 r 2

2
IA r
 B
2
IB r A
 INTENSITY

The intensity decreases as the distance increases

Human-being can hear sounds with intensities as low as 10-12 W / m 2 !
This is called the threshold intensity, I 0.
Since our ears are thousands of times smaller, the energy our ears
receive in a second is thousands of times less.
 Intensity determines loudness.
A sound wave with a higher amplitude and energy is perceived as a
louder sound.
 Intensity determines loudness.

A sound wave with a lower amplitude and energy is perceived as a

softer sound.
 Loudness
• Subjective! (This means it depends on the person who is hearing it.)
• Loudness is a personal, physical response to the intensity of sound.
• As intensity increases, so does loudness, but loudness also depends
on the listener’s ears and brain.
How does energy determine loudness according to sound?
• The more energy sound waves carry the louder it will sound to
listeners.
• The intensity of a sound is the amount of energy its sound wave
has.
 Range of Intensities
The hearing threshold is the standard minimum of intensity for
audible sound. Its value I0 is:

Hearing threshold: I0 = 1 x 10-12 W/m2 (0 dB)

The pain threshold is the maximum intensity Ip that the average

ear can record without feeling or pain.

Pain threshold: Ip = 1 W/m2(120 dB)

 Intensity determines loudness
Sound Waves can also be amplified.
Intensity and loudness of sound
How Loud is Too Loud?
 Intensity and loudness of sound

• Most sounds fall between 0 and 100 on the

decibel scale, making it a very convenient
number to understand and use.
• The decibel scale is logarithmic, meaning for
every increase of 20 decibels, there is a 10-fold
increase.
• This means 102 = 40 decibel noise.
 Intensity level /decibel
• The sensation of loudness is approximately logarithmic in the human
ear. Because of that, the relative intensity of a sound is called the
intensity level or decibel level, defined by:
I 
  10 log  I0 = 1.0x10-12 W.m-2 : the reference intensity
 I0  the sound intensity at the threshold of hearing

 1.0 1012 W/m2  Threshold of hearing

  10 log 12
  10 log(1)  0 dB
2 
 1.0 10 W/m 
 1.0 1011 W/m2 
  10 log 12
  10 log(10)  10 dB
2 
 1.0 10 W/m 
 1.0 1010 W/m2 
  10 log 12
  10 log(100)  20 dB
2 
 1.0 10 W/m 
 1.0 W/m2 
  10 log 12
  10 log(1012 )  120 dB
2  Threshold of pain
 1.0 10 W/m 
Exercise no:7
A small source emits sound waves with a power output of 80.0 W.
(a) Find the intensity 3.00 m from the source.
Pav
I  0.707 W.m -2

4 r 2

(b) At what distance would the intensity be one-fourth as much as it

is at r = 3.00 m?

Pav 80.0
r  m  6.00 m
4 I 4 (0.707) / 4.0

(c) Find the distance at which the sound level is 40.0 dB?
 I 
  10 log  I0 = 1.0x10-12 W.m-2
 I0 
I  I 
40.0  10log    4.00  log    I  104.00 I 0  1.00 108 W.m-2
 I0   I0 
Pav  4r12 I1 and Pav  4r22 I 2

4r I  4r I
2
2 2
2
1 1
I1 r22
 2
I 2 r1

I1
r2  r1
I2

r2  3 m 
0.707
8
 2.52  10 4
m
1 X 10
Exercise no: 8
A noisy grinding machine in a factory produces a sound intensity of
1.00x10-5 W.m-2.
(a) Calculate the intensity level of the single grinder.

 1.00 105 W/m2 

  10 log 12

2 
 10 log(10 7
)  70.0 dB
 1.00 10 W/m 
(b) If a second machine is added, then:
 2.00 105 W/m2 
  10 log 12

2 
 10 log( 2  10 7
)  73.0 dB
 1.00 10 W/m 

(c) Find the intensity corresponding to an intensity level of 77.0 dB.

 I  I
  77.0 dB  10log    10 7.70

 0
I 1.00 1012

I  5.01 105 W.m -2

Exercise no:9
Two sound waves have intensities of 10 and 500 microwatts/cm2.
How many decibels is the Louder sound above the other?
Solution
Call the 10 μW/cm2 sound A, and the other B. Then
 IA 

dBA  10 log   10 log I A  log I 0  (1)
 I0 
 IB 

dBB  10 log   10 log I B  log I 0  (2)
 I0 

 IB 
Subtracting
 
dBB  dBA  10 log I B  log I A  10 log 
 IA 

 10 log 500   10 log 50  (10)(1.7)

 10 
 17 decibels difference
 Exercise no: 10
Find the ratio of the intensities of two sounds if one is 8 dB louder than
the other.
Solution
Call the 10 μW/cm2 sound A, and the other B. Then
 IA 

dBA  10 log   10 log I A  log I 0  (1)
 I0 
 IB 

dBB  10 log   10 log I B  log I 0  (2)
 I0 

 IB 
Subtracting
 
dBB  dBA  8  10 log I B  log I A  10 log 
 IA 
IB  8 
  anti log   6.3
IA  10 
When two frequencies of sound are not exactly equal in value, the loudness of
the total sound seems to oscillate or beat.
The superposition principle states that when sound waves occur at the same
time they combine to make a complex wave.
 THE DOPPLER EFFECT

Andreas Christian
Johann Doppler
(1803 -1853)
Doppler effect – change in the frequency due to relative motion of a
source and an observer (detector)

Speed of sound wave in air is 344 m/s

(at 1 atm and 210C)
 1st CASE
STATIONARY SOURCE AND MOVING OBSERVER

OBSERVER MOVING TOWARD THE STATIONARY

SOURCE (vs) WITH A VELOCITY OF vo ,
FREQUENCY OF THE SOURCE f AND SPEED OF
SOUND v =344 m/s

When heading into waves: Frequency becomes shorter.

Frequency heard by the observer is increased by

 v0 
f '  f 1  
 v
Observer moving towards the source
 OBSERVER MOVING AWAY FROM THE STATIONARY SOURCE

Frequency heard by the observer is decreased by

 v0 
f '  f 1  
 v

IN GENERAL, MOVING OBSERVER TO A STATIONARY STATE (OBJECT),

FREQUENCY AS HEARED BY THE OBSEVER

 v0 
f '  f 1  
 v
positive sign : moving towards
negative sign : moving away
Exercise no: 11
The frequency of a certain police car’s siren is 1550 Hz when at rest. What frequency do you
detect if you move with a speed of 30 m/s
(a) toward the car
(b) away from the car?

Solution
(a)
 v0 
f '  f 1  
 v

 30 m / s 
f '  f 1    1685.17 Hz
 344 m / s 
(b)

 v0 
f '  f 1  
 v

 30 m / s 
f '  f 1    1414.83 Hz
 344 m / s 
2nd CASE MOVING SOURCE AND THE STATIONARY OBSERVER

   
 1   1 
f ' f   f ' f  
1 S 
v  1  vS 
   
 v   v 
A SOURCE MOVING AWAY FROM THE OBSERVER A SOURCE MOVING DIRECTLY TOWARD OBSERVER

IN GENERAL, MOVING SOURCE TO A STATIONARY OBSERVER:

FREQUENCY AS HEARED BY THE STATIONARY OBSEVER IS

 
 1 
f ' f  
 1  vS 
 
 v
Exercise no:12
Sitting on the beach at Durban one afternoon, Sibongile finds herself
beneath the flight path of the airplanes leaving King-Shaka Airport.
What frequency will Sibongile hear as a jet, whose engines emit sound
at a frequency of 1000. Hz, flies (a) toward her and (b) away from her
at a speed of 100 m/s? (speed of sound 340 m/s)
Solution

 
 1 
f ' f  
(a)

 1  vs 
 
 v 
  
 
f '  1000 Hz  1 
 100 m / s 
 1  340 m / s 
 

 1 
f '  1000 Hz   1417 Hz
 1  0.294117 
(b)

 
 1 
f ' f  
 1  vs 
 
 v 

 
 
f '  1000 Hz  1 
 100 m / s 
 1  340 m / s 
 

 1 
f '  1000 Hz   772.73 Hz
 1  0.294117 
3rd CASE IF BOTH THE SOURCE AND THE OBSERVER ARE IN MOTION
FREQUENCY AS HEARED BY THE OBSEVER IS

 v  v0 
f '  f  
 v  vs 
APPROACHING EACH OTHER

 v  v0 
f '  f  
 v  vs 
MOVING AWAY FROM EACH OTHER

IN GENERAL, FREQUENCY AS HEARED BY THE OBSEVER IS

 v  v0 
f '  f  
 v  vs 
Exercise no:13 A boy on a bicycle moves north at 10 m/s. Following
the boy is a truck traveling north at 30 m/s. The truck’s horn blows at
a frequency of 500 Hz. What is the apparent frequency heard by the
boy? Assume sound travels at 340 m/s.

30 m/s fs = 500 Hz 10 m/s

V = 340 m/s

The truck is approaching; the boy is fleeing. Thus:

vs = +30 m/s v0 = -10 m/s
 vs = 30 m/s fs = 500 Hz v0 = -10 m/s
V = 340 m/s

 V  v0   340 m/s  (10 m/s) 

f0  f s    500 Hz  
 V  vs   340 m/s - (30 m/s) 
 330 m/s 
f 0  500 Hz  
 310 m/s) 

f0 = 532 Hz
Exercise no: 14
At rest, a car’s horn sounds the note A (440 Hz). The horn is sounded
while the car moves down the street. A bicyclist moving in the
same direction at 10 m/s hears a frequency of 415 Hz. (343 m/s.)
What is the speed of the car? (Assume the cyclist is behind the car)
 v  v0 
f '  f  
 v  vs 
 343 m / s  10 m / s 
415 Hz  440 Hz 
 343 m / s  vs 
 155320 Hz m / s  
415 Hz   
 343 m / s  vs 
415 Hz 343 m / s  vs   155320 Hz m / s 
415 Hzvs  155320  142345  Hz m / s 

vs  31 .3 m / s