SOUND

INTRODUCTION OF WAVES
• A wave is a disturbance in a medium
that carries energy without a net
movement of particles.
• There are some basic descriptors of
a wave. Wavelength is the distance
between an identical part of the
wave. Amplitude is the maximum
displacement from the neutral
position. 
• Frequency (ƒ) is the number of
repetitions per second in Hz, S¯¹
Period (T) is the time for one
wavelength to pass a point.
 TYPES OF WAVES
• Transverse Waves
• Waves in which the medium moves at right angles to the direction of the wave.

• Longitudinal Wave:
• A longitudinal wave has the movement of the particles in the medium in the same
dimension as the direction of movement of the wave.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A SOUND WAVE :
• Sound can be graphically represented as a wave. There is changes in the
density and pressure as sound moves in a medium.
• Compressions are the regions of high pressure and density where the
particles are crowded and are represented by the upper portion of the curve
called crest.
• Rarefactions are the regions of low pressure and density where the particles
are spread out and are represented by the lower portion of the curve called
trough.
• Wavelength is the distance between two consecutive compressions (crests)
or two consecutive troughs.
Pressure or Density

λ λ Crest

Trough

compression rarefaction
 TYPES OF WAVES
Sound is a mechanical wave that results from the back and forth vibration of the particles of
the medium through which the sound wave is moving
Sound is a type of energy that allows us to hear.

Sound is made when an object vibrates, or moves back and forth very quickly.

These vibrations move away from the object and cause other things to vibrate.
In this way, sound travels through air, water,and even solid objects.
 12.1 MAKING SOUNDS
• All musical instruments create sound by causing
matter to vibrate. 
• Stringed musical instrument produced music by
stretched strings.
• Wind musical instrument produced music by vibration
of air columns inside them.
• Membrane musical instrument produces music by
vibration of stretched membrane.

• Plate type musical instrument produces music by

vibration of thick plates
 MUSICAL SOUNDS
• The strings of the violin, the lips of the 
trumpet player, the reed of a 
saxophone, and the wooden slabs of a 
xylophone are all, in their unique ways,
producers of periodic vibrations.
 MUSICAL SOUNDS
• The sounds are produced by instruments in which the periodic vibrations can be controlled
by the performer.
• Musical sound has parodic note.
 12.2 HOW DOES SOUND TRAVEL?
• Compressions and Rarefactions

• the longitudinal motion of the air particles, there are regions in the air where the air particles
are compressed together and other regions where the air particles are spread apart. These
regions are known as compressions and rarefactions respectively. The compressions are
regions of high air pressure while the rarefactions are regions of low air pressure. The
diagram below depicts a sound wave created by a tuning fork and propagated through the air
in an open tube. The compressions and rarefactions are labeled.
TUNING FORK
Tuning fork is A metal 'Y' shape which used
to produce sound in fixed frequency in
laboratories.

Hitting the tuning fork causes the prongs.

A VIBRATING OBJECT PRODUCING A SERIES OF COMPRESSIONS (C)
AND RAREFACTION (R)

Air from the

high pressure
regions moves
quickly into the
low pressure
regions, so
quickly that the
previously high
pressure
regions, become
low pressure
 12.3 THE SPEED OF SOUND
• The speed of sound is different in different media. The speed of sound is more in solids,
less in liquids and least in gases.

• Sound requires a medium - Bell Jar Experiment - eGogy – YouTube

 SPEED OF SOUND :

• The speed of sound also depends on the temperature of the medium. If the
temperature of the medium is more, the speed of sound is more.
• More dense medium,More faster State Substance Speed in m/s
• Warmer=faster Solid Aluminum 6420

Steel 5960
Iron 5950
Brass 4700
Glass 3980

Liquid Water (Sea) 1531

Water (Distilled) 1498

Speed = wave length x frequency Ethanol 1207
Methanol 1103

Gas Hydrogen 1284

Helium 965
Air 346
Oxygen 316
Sulphur dioxide 213
Speed of Sound
Sound travels
at 340 metres
Lightning travels
per second much faster than the
sound of thunder.

The Speed of Sound:

Depends upon the
Does not depend upon Is different through
temperature of the air.
the pressure of the air. If different materials. Eg.
Sound travels faster
atmospheric pressure Fastest through solids,
through hot air than
changes, speed does not. then liquids, then gases.
through cold air.

Air (dry) at 0oC = 330m/s, water at 0oC = 1400m/s, concrete = 5000m/s

 HOW COULD WE CALCULATE
Measuring Spee
THE SPEED OF SOUND IN AIR?
d of Sound Usin
g Echoes | GCS
E Physics – You
Tube SPEED = DISTANCE Speed = 150 333 m/s
TIME 0.45

75
metres
75
metres

Time
 12.4 SEEING AND HEARING SOUNDS

You can see sound waves when a microphone is connected to an oscilloscope. A

microphone changes the sound waves into an electrical signal. The oscilloscope then
shows what these electrical waves look like.

3C55.70 - Sounds on a Oscilloscope – YouTube

Oscilloscope and Sound Waves – YouTube
 CLASSWORK
PAPER 4 PG 198
PG 205
H.W PG 210
213
203
USES OF ULTRASONIC SOUND :
i) Ultrasonic sound is used to clean objects like electronic components.
The components to be cleaned are kept in cleaning solution and
ultrasonic waves are sent into the solution. Due to the high frequency,
the dirt particles get detached from the components.
ii) Ultrasonic sound is used to detect cracks in metal blocks. Ultrasonic
waves are sent through the metal blocks and if there are cracks, the
waves are reflected back and the cracks can be detected.
iii) Ultrasonic sound is used in ultra sound scanners for getting images of
internal organs of the human body.
iv) Ultrasonic sound is used to break small stones formed in the kidneys
into fine grains so that they are removed through the urine.
SONAR :
• Sonar stands for Sound Navigation And Ranging. It is a device which uses
ultrasonic waves to measure distance, direction and speed of underwater objects.
• Sonar has a transmitter and a detector installed in ships. The transmitter produces
ultrasonic sound waves which travel through the water and after striking the
object in the sea bed is reflected back to the detector.
• The distance of the object can be calculated by knowing the speed of sound in
water and the time taken between the transmission and reception of ultrasound.
• If the time taken for the transmission and reception of ultra sound is t and the
distance travelled is 2d by the ultra sound, then 2d = v x t

h y it
W
a tt ers
M
A boat sends out a sound wave so
that the captain can calculate the
depth of water.

The captain knows that the speed

of sound in water is 1500 m/s

Distance = speed x time

But don’t forget that the sound

has travelled there and back so we
will need to divide our answer by
two to get the depth.