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Sound
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Sound
 When we talk or make any sound, our
vocal chords vibrate. When there are
no vibrations felt, no sound is
produced. This means that sound are
caused by vibrations.
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 Vibrations of molecules can
either be to-and-fro or back-
and-forth movement. Vibrations
are considered as a
disturbance that travels through
a medium.
 This vibratory motion causes
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energy to transfer to our ears and is

interpreted by our brain. Sound
waves are examples of longitudinal
waves. They are also known as
mechanical waves since sound
waves need medium in order to
propagate.
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 Sound waves can travel in

solid. Sound is more distinct in
solids than in air. Liquids are
better transmitter of sound than
gases.
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 Spacing of particles of the

medium like solid, liquid and
gas is an important factor on
how fast sound would be
transmitted.
 Sound
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waves are transmitted easier
in liquids. Between liquid and solid,
however, the particles of solid are
even closer together than the
particles of liquid; therefore, sound
travels even faster in solid than in
liquid.
 Since
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different media transmit
sound differently, sound travels at
different speeds in different
materials. Since solid is the best
transmitter of sound, sound travels
fastest in solids and slowest in
gases.
 However,
z sound cannot travel in a
vacuum. Remember that sound is a
mechanical wave which needs a
medium in order to propagate. In a
condition where nearly no molecules
exist such as in some regions of the
outer space, there would be negligible
transmission of sound.
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Factors affecting the

Speed of Sound
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Factors affecting the Speed of
Sound

1. Atmospheric pressure
2. Relative Humidity
3. Atmospheric Temperature
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When you are in low lands and the

surrounding is hot, sound travels
fast. There are more molecular
interactions that happen in hot air.
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This is because the hot particles of air

gain more kinetic energy and do there is
also an increase in the mean velocity of
molecules.
Since sound is a consequence of energy
transfer through collisions, more collisions
and faster collisions means faster sound.
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When it comes to varying densities

between substances of the same
state of matter, sound travels faster
in less dense substance.
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During humid days, when there are

tiny water vapor particles mixed in
the air, the air density is high and
the sound travels more slowly. But
on a dry day, when there is lesser
humidity, sound travels faster.
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During humid days, when there are

tiny water vapor particles mixed in
the air, the air density is high and
the sound travels more slowly. But
on a dry day, when there is lesser
humidity, sound travels faster.
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Characteristics of Sound
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Characteristics of Sound

 Pitch
 Loudness
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Pitch

 It refers to the highness and

lowness of sound.
 The pitch of a high frequency sound
is also high and a low frequency
sound is also; lower in pitch.
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Loudness and Intensity
 In sound, intensity refers to the amount of
energy a sound waves carries.
 High amplitude sounds usually carry large
energy and have higher intensity while
low amplitude sound carry lesser amount
of energy and have lower intensity.
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 Sound intensity is measured by
various instruments like the
oscilloscope.
 Loudness is a psychological
sensation that differs fro different
people.
 A logarithmic
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scale is used to
describe sound intensity, which
roughly corresponds to loudness.
The unit of intensity level for sound
is the decibel (dB). Which was
named after Alexander Graham Bell
who invented the telephone.
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Velocity of Sound
 Velocity depends upon the
elasticity and density of a
medium.
 The more elastic the medium
the higher the sound’s velocity.
 Intensity and loudness
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 Intensity is the amount of

energy flowing each
second through a unit
area.
 The human ear is unable
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to detect the sound waves

of all frequencies. It can
only respond to
frequencies in the range of
20 to 20,000 Hz.
 Sound waves of frequencies
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above 20, 000 Hz are called

ultrasonic frequencies .
 Extremely low frequencies
below 20 Hz are known as
infrasonic frequencies.
 Sound waves of frequencies
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above 20, 000 Hz are called

ultrasonic frequencies .
 Extremely low frequencies
below 20 Hz are known as
infrasonic frequencies.
 z Ultrasound waves
 Ultrasonic waves play a very
important role in the field of
medicine.
 They are now being used to
probe human internal organs
instead of X rays.
 z Ultrasound waves
 One specific application of
these waves is in the
examination of the uterus of a
pregnant woman to obtain
information concerning the
growth of the fetus.
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An ultrasonic fetal stethoscope

is used in this probing which,
unlike X-ray radiation, does not
damage human tissue.
Ultrasound is also used in some
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types of burglar alarms. A

moving object reflects waves
from the ultrasonic source.
Waves of varying intensity are
picked up by a sensory device
that activates the alarm.
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Reflection of Sound
Waves
 A sound
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waves turns back or is
reflected when it strikes against
another body.
 This reflected wave is called an echo.
 A repeated or multiple echo may be
created if the sound waves strikes
parallel reflecting surfaces at different
distances.
 Thez reflection of sound waves is used
in determining ocean depths and
altitude of an airplane.
 A sound wave is sent out under water
from a ship. The wave is reflected
from the sea bottom and the reflected
wave is detected by a receiving
device also mounted on the ship.
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 The product of the time interval and speed
of sound in air at a given temperature
divided by 2 is equal to the airplane’s
altitude.
 The efficiency of the sonic altimeter is
affected by the speed of the airplane and
by the noise produced by airplane motors
or propellers that makes echoes difficult to
 Using
z the recorded elapsed time and
velocity od sound in water, the ocean
depth may be computed.
 In the cases of airplane altitude, a device
called sonic altimeter is used.
 It consists of a sound emitter and recorder
that measures the time interval between
emission of sound and reception of echo.
 The product of the time interval and speed
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of sound in air at a given temperature

divided by 2 is equal to the airplane’s
altitude.
 The efficiency of the sonic altimeter is
affected by the speed of the airplane and
by the noise produced by airplane motors
or propellers that makes echoes difficult to
detect.
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Refraction of Sound Waves

 Soundz travels with constant speed in all directions in a
stationary medium of constant density. When a sound
wave passes from one medium to another of different
density, the sound will not spread out uniformly.
 The speed will be greater in some parts which will
result to a change in the direction of the sound.
 The path of the sound waves is bent away from its
normal straight line.
 This bending is called refraction.
 On a zclean sunny day, the earth’s surface is
hot, causing the temperature of air
immediately above the surface to rise. Since
the temperature of the lower layer of air is
higher than the layers above , sound travels
faster near the surface of the earth.
 This difference in the speed causes sound
waves to bend away from the surface.
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 On a clear night the earth’s surface gets

cold faster; hence, the layers of air
immediately above is colder.
 As a result sound travels faster at the
higher layer than at the lower layer and
is bent toward the earth’s surface.
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