FREQUENCY:

DEFINATION: For an oscillating or varying current, frequency is the number of

complete cycles per second in alternating current direction. The standard unit of
frequency is the hertz, abbreviated Hz.
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also
referred to as temporal frequency. The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating
event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency.

Wavelength
In physics, wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a
propagating wave of a given frequency. It is commonly designated by the Greek letter
lambda (). Examples of wave-like phenomena are light, water waves, and sound waves.
The wavelength is related to the frequency by the formula: wavelength = wave speed /
frequency. Wavelength is therefore inversely proportional to frequency. Waves with
higher frequencies have shorter wavelengths. Lower frequencies have longer
wavelengths, assuming the speed of the wave is the same.

Sound Intensity
Sound intensity is defined as the sound power per unit area
Sound Intensity is the Acoustic or Sound Power (W) per unit area. The SI-units for Sound
Intensity are W/m2. The usual context is the measurement of sound intensity
in the air at a listener's location. The basic units are watts/m2 or
watts/cm2 . Many sound intensity measurements are made relative to a
standard threshold of hearing intensity I0 :

The most common approach to sound intensity measurement is to use

the decibel scale:

Decibels measure the ratio of a given intensity I to the threshold of

hearing intensity , so that this threshold takes the value 0 decibels (0

dB). To assess sound loudness, as distinct from an objective intensity

measurement, the sensitivity of the ear must be factored in.
Sound Intensity level and the decibel scale
The perceived intensity of a sound is dependant on the sound energy
density at the position of the listener.
The relationship between sound intensity and perceived sound is
measured logarithmically (which is a method used to scale a large range
of values), using a unit called the decibel or db.
The decibel is a unit used in consumer and professional audio
equipment, be it hi-hi amps or mixing desks, as it allows us to apply a
standard measurement for the volume of sounds we listen to.
This db value is measured relative to a 0db reference level, which is
typically set at the threshold of human hearing. Therefore the decibel
measurement is the ratio of two sounds, one being 0db, and is a relative
measure. Sound intensity is calculated using the following equation.
SIL = 10log

10

Intensity source
Intensity reference

where Intensity reference = 10

-12

W/m

It is common in the majority of audio systems that the maximum volume

level is 0db, and it is possible to cut and boost the volume by decibel
values.
An important point to note when working with decibel measurements is
that due to its logarithmical form, doubling the sound intensity at source
accounts for a 3.01db increase. Similarly, halving the level of intensity
reduces the decibel amount by 3.01db.

Sound
sound, any disturbance that travels through an elastic medium such as air, ground,
or water to be heard by the human ear. When a body vibrates, or moves back and forth
(see vibration), the oscillation causes a periodic disturbance of the surrounding air or

other medium that radiates outward in straight lines in the form of a pressure wave. The
effect these waves produce upon the ear is perceived as sound. From the point of view of
physics, sound is considered to be the waves of vibratory motion themselves, whether or
not they are heard by the human ear.

Generation of Sound Waves

Sound waves are generated by any vibrating body. For example, when
a violin string vibrates upon being bowed or plucked, its movement in one direction
pushes the molecules of the air before it, crowding them together in its path. When it
moves back again past its original position and on to the other side, it leaves behind it a
nearly empty space, i.e., a space with relatively few molecules in it. In the meantime,
however, the molecules which were at first crowded together have transmitted some of
their energy of motion to other molecules still farther on and are returning to fill again the
space originally occupied and now left empty by the retreating violin string. In other
words, the vibratory motion set up by the violin string causes alternately in a given space
a crowding together of the molecules of air (a condensation) and a thinning out of the
molecules (a rarefaction). Taken together a condensation and a rarefaction make up a
sound wave; such a wave is called longitudinal, or compressional, because the vibratory
motion is forward and backward along the direction that the wave is following. Because
such a wave travels by disturbing the particles of a material medium, sound waves cannot
travel through a vacuum.

The Propagation of sound

Sound is a sequence of waves of pressure which propagates through compressible media
such as air or water. (Sound can propagate through solids as well, but there are additional
modes of propagation). During their propagation, waves can be reflected, refracted, or
attentuated by the medium. The purpose of this experiment is to examine what effect the
characteristics of the medium have on sound.
All media have three properties which affect the behavior of sound propagation:
1. A relationship between density and pressure. This relationship, affected by
temperature, determines the speed of sound within the medium.
2. The motion of the medium itself, e.g., wind. Independent of the motion of
sound through the medium, if the medium is moving, the sound is further
transported.
3. The viscosity of the medium. This determines the rate at which sound is
attenuated. For many media, such as air or water, attenuation due to viscosity is
negligible.

What happens when sound is propagating through a medium which does not have
constant properties? For example, when sound speeds increases with height? Sound
waves are refracted. They can be focused or dispersed, thus increasing or decreasing
sound levels, precisely as an optical lens increases or decreases light intensity.
One way that the propagation of sound can be represented is by the motion of
wavefronts-- lines of constant pressure that move with time. Another way is to
hypothetically mark a point on a wavefront and follow the trajectory of that point over
time. This latter approach is called ray-tracing and shows most clearly how sound is
refracted.

Transmission of Sound
Sound is transmitted between different parts of buildings and between adjacent
buildings in two ways:

Airborne sound: when sound generated within a room reaches the

bounding surfaces some of the energy is reflected back into the room and
some generates vibrations within the structure of the building. If there is
sufficient energy those vibrations will produce sound on the other side of the
structural element.

Impact sound: direct impacts upon the building structure such as

footsteps, hammering, or door slamming cause the structure to vibrate
and produce sound waves on both sides of the surface impacted.

Reception of Sound
Physiological acoustics is the study of the transmission of sound and
how it is heard by the human ear. Sound travels in waves, vibrations that cause
compression and rarefaction of molecules in the air. The organ of hearing, the ear, has
three basic parts that collect and transmit these vibrations: the outer, middle and inner ear.
The outer ear is made of the pinna, the external part of the ear that can be seen, which
acts to funnel sound through the ear canal toward the eardrum or tympanic membrane.
The membrane is highly sensitive to vibrations and also protects the middle and inner ear.
When the eardrum vibrates it sets up vibrations in the three tiny bones of the middle ear,
the malleus, incus and stapes, which are often called the hammer, anvil and stirrup
because of their resemblance to those objects. These bones amplify the sound. The stapes
is connected to the oval window, the entrance to the inner ear, which contains a spiral-

shaped, fluid-filled chamber called the cochlea. When vibrations are transmitted from the
stapes to the oval window, the fluid within the cochlea is put into motion. Tiny hair that
line the basilar membrane of the cochlea, a membrane that divides the cochlea
lengthwise, move in accordance with the wave pattern. The hair cells convert the
mechanical energy of the waveform into nerve signals that reach the auditory nerve and
then the brain. In the brain, sound is interpreted.

Inverse-square law
In physics, an inverse-square law is any physical law stating that some physical quantity
or strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that
physical quantity.