SOUND

BY EREN PARK G9
WHAT IS SOUND?

Sound is vibrations that travel through a medium to reach a person’s ear, where they can be heard. Sound needs a medium to
travel. Unlike light, sound doesn’t exist in space since there is no medium.

When a particle vibrates, it causes particles next to it to vibrate as well. Eventually, the vibrations travel through the whole
medium. The closer together the particles are, the faster the vibrations are transferred.

Sound travels fastest in a solid because particles in a solid are very close together. This means vibrations are transferred faster,
and so sound travels faster.

A particle vibrates Vibrations pass on to Vibrations are transferred

particles next to it through the medium
SPEEDS OF SOUND

• Solid - 5000-6000m/s
• Liquid - 1500m/s
• Gas – 330m/s
These measures will vary depending on the material
and substance. However, these values provide a
general idea. As you can see, sound is fastest in a
solid, and slowest in a gas.
SOUND WAVES

Sound is a longitudinal wave. This

means the particles move parallel to
the direction of the wave.
In a longitudinal wave, areas where
particles are close together are called
compressions. Areas where particles
are further apart are called
rarefactions.
TERMS

Amplitude – The distance from the normal to the crest or trough

Frequency – Number of waves per second

As amplitude increases, the sound becomes louder. As frequency increases, the pitch of the
sound increases.
MEASURING THE SPEED OF SOUND

• Place two microphones a measured distance apart. Connect the first microphone
to an electronic switch which will start a timer, and the second to another switch
which will stop the timer.
• Produce a sound so that the sound wave will travel in the space separating the
microphones. Use the timing data and the separation of the microphones to
calculate the speed of sound in air using speed = distance/time.
ULTRASOUND AND INFRASOUND

The human ear can only hear sounds from frequencies 20Hz –
20000Hz. Sounds with frequencies below 20Hz are called
infrasound. Sounds with frequencies above 20000Hz are called
ultrasound.
Ultrasound can be used in
• Pre-natal care
• Analyze materials
• Measuring distances