CHAPTER 1: WAVES

1.6 Understanding Sound Waves

 Producing sounds

• Sound waves are longitudinal waves that are

transmitted through almost any substance i.e
solid , liquid or gas.
• The waves are produced by any mechanism
which produces compressional vibrations
of the surrounding medium. Some examples
are the vibrating string of a guitar, exploding
gas in firecracker and the vibrating
diaphragm of a loudspeaker.
 Propagation of Sound Waves

Mechanical wave

Sound Wave Longitudinal wave

Require medium to
propagate
• Vibrations in a vacuum
• Sound cannot travel through a vacuum because
in a vacuum there is no material to transmit the
compressions.
• For examples, we cannot hear the nuclear
explosions on the sun because there is no
medium in space. Astronauts cannot speak to
each other on the moon without using radio
waves, because there is no air on the moon
through which sound waves can travel.
 Speed of Sound Waves

• Sounds travels quickly, but not nearly as fast as

light. The speed of sound waves depends on the
medium. Sound travels fastest in solids, and
slowest in gases.
• Sound travels more quickly through medium in
which the atoms are strongly bound together.
The strong binding between atoms in solids
means that sound will travel much more quickly
through solids than through gases.
• The speed of sound waves in gases increase
when the density of the gases decrease. When
the density of the gases decrease ,the frequency
of the vibrations increase ,so the speed of the
sounds increase ( v = fλ).
• The speed of the sound waves also increase as
the temperature the gases increase. It is
because when the temperature of the gases
increase the density of the gases decrease.
• The speed of sound waves in a gas not affected
by changes of pressure.
Typical values for speed of sound are given in the following table.

Medium Speed of sound waves/ ms-1

Air (0oC) 331
Oxygen (0oC) 316
Helium (0oC) 965
Hydrogen (0oC) 1284
Water (0oC) 1402
Water (20oC) 1482
Water (50oC) 1543
Aluminium (0oC) 5100
Copper (0oC) 3560
Iron (0oC) 5130
 The frequency spectrum of sound waves

• If a signal generator is connected to a

loudspeaker , not all the frequencies of the
sound wave is produced ca be heard by
the human hear.
• The human hear is capable of hearing
sounds with frequencies in the range of 20
Hz to 20 000 Hz.
• The following figure shows the frequency
spectrum of sound waves:
• Below about 20 Hz the vibrations are felt rather
than heard e.g. earth quakes and are called
subsonic.
• We are able to hear sounds with frequencies
from around 20 Hz to almost 20 000Hz.
• Sounds above the upper hearing limit are called
ultrasound.
• Dogs, bats and dolphins are all known to be able
to hear sounds whose frequency is well above
the limits of human hearing.
 Loudness and Pitch

• The loudness of a sound depends on the

amplitude of vibrations. As the amplitude
of vibrations increase , the loudness of a
sound increases.
• The pitch of a sound depends on the
frequency of vibrations. As the frequency
of vibrations increase , the pitch of a
sound increases.
 Quality or timbre of sound

• The quality of sound depends on the wave form.

• Different musical instruments of the same pitch are
distinguished from each other by their quality.
 Sound and Noise

• Our ear can also tell the difference between musical

sounds and noises. The waveforms produced by
musical instruments are regular, whilst those
produced by noises are jagged and irregular
Application of sound waves
 Questions

• Question1
• A Sonar signal sent vertically downwards
from a ship is reflected from the ocean
floor and detected by a microphone on
the keel 0.8 s after transmission . If speed
of sound in water is 1 500 ms-1, what is
the depth of the ocean?
• Question 2
• During a thunderstorm, an observer sees
a lightning flash 6 seconds later he hears
the thunder. The speed of sound is 330 m
s-1.
• How far away is the observer from the
lightening?