SOUND 1

12. SOUND

 Sound-Sound is a form of energy which produces a sensation of

hearing in our ears.
o Production of sound-Sound is produced by striking the tuning fork,
plucking, scratching, and rubbing, blowing or shaking or vibrating
different objects.
-The sound of the human voice is produced due to vibrations in the vocal
cords.
o Vibration-Vibration means a kind of rapid to and fro motion of and
object.
o Medium-The matter or substance through which sound is transmitted is
called a medium. It needs a material medium like steel (solid), water
(liquid) or air (gas) for its propagation. It cannot travel through vacuum.
o The disturbance created by a source of sound in the medium travels
through the medium.
Q1. How does the sound produced by a vibrating object in a medium reach
your ear?

Ans-When an object vibrates, it sets the particles of the medium around it

vibrating. A particle of the medium in contact with the vibrating object is first
displaced from its equilibrium position. It then exerts a force on the adjacent
particle. The adjacent particle gets displaced from its position of rest. After
displacing the adjacent particle the first particle comes back to its original
position. This process continues in the medium till the sound reaches your ear.
o Wave- A wave is a disturbance that moves through a medium when
the particles of the medium set neighboring particles into motion.
They in turn produce similar motion in others. Thus disturbance is
carried forward during propagation of sound in a medium; hence
sound can be visualized as a wave.
o Mechanical wave-Sound waves are characterized by the motion of
particles in the medium and are called mechanical waves.

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 SOUND 2

Q.2Differentiate between compression and rarefaction

COMPRESSION RAREFACTION
i. When a vibrating object i. When the vibrating object
moves forward, it pushes moves backwards, it
and compresses the air in creates a region of low
front of it creating a pressure called rarefaction.
region of high pressure.
This region is called a
compression
ii. Also it has more density. ii. Also it has less density. It is
It is denoted by the denoted by the capital
capital letter C. letter R.

o Propagation of sound
o This compression starts to move away from the vibrating object.
o As the object moves back and forth rapidly, a series of compressions
and rarefactions is created in the air. These make the sound wave
that propagates through the medium.
o Since pressure is related to the number of particles of a medium in a
given volume. More density of the particles in the medium gives
more pressure and vice versa. Thus propagation of sound can be
visualized as propagation of density variations or pressure variations
in the medium.

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 SOUND 3

o BELL JAR EXPERIMENT

o Take an electric bell and an airtight glass bell jar. The electric bell is
suspended inside the airtight bell jar. The bell jar is connected to a
vacuum pump.
o If you press the switch you will be able to hear the bell.
o Now start the vacuum pump. When the air in the jar is pumped out
gradually, the sound becomes fainter, although the same current is
passing through the bell. After some time when less air is left inside
the bell jar you will hear a very feeble sound. If the air is removed
completely, we will not able so hear the sound of the bell.
Sound is a mechanical wave (oscillations are of the medium
particles or their pressure or density) and needs a material
medium like air, water, steel for its propagation. It cannot
travel through vacuum.
- Sound propagates in the medium as a series of compressions and
rarefactions.

Q.3 Differentiate between longitudinal and transverse waves.

LONGITUDINAL WAVES
i. In these waves the
individual particles of the
medium move in a direction
parallel to the direction of
propagation of disturbance.
ii. Example is Sound wave.
TRANSVERSE WAVES
i. In a transverse wave particles of
the medium oscillate up and down
about their mean position that is
move about their mean positions
in a direction perpendicular to the
direction of wave propagation or
as the wave travels.
ii. Example is light.

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 SOUND 4

o Crest-The peak (upper portion of the curve) represents the region

of maximum compression where particles are crowded together,
is called the crest.
o Trough-The valley (lower portion of the curve) represents
rarefactions, the region of low pressure where particles are spread
apart is called the trough of a wave.
o Wavelength- The distance between two consecutive compressions
(C) or two consecutive rarefactions(R) is called wavelength. It is
usually represented by λ. Its SI unit is metre (m).
o One oscillation-The change in density from the maximum value to
the minimum value, again to the maximum value, makes one
complete oscillation.
o Frequency-The number of such oscillations per unit time is the
frequency of the sound. Its SI unit is hertz (Hz).
o The number of the compressions or rarefactions that cross per unit
time, we will get the frequency of the sound wave. It is represented
by.
o The time period- The time taken for one complete oscillation in the
density of the medium is called the time period of the sound wave. It is
represented by the symbol T. Its SI unit is second(s). Frequency and time
period are related as follows
1/T
o Pitch- The way the brain interprets the frequency of an emitted
sound is called its pitch.
o The faster the vibration of the source, the higher is the frequency and
the higher is the pitch.

o Amplitude- The magnitude of the maximum disturbance in the

medium of either side of the mean value is called the amplitude of
the wave. It is represented by the letter A.
o The loudness or softness of a sound is determined by its amplitude.
The amplitude of the sound wave depends upon the force with which
an object is made to vibrate.

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 SOUND 5

Q.4 Differentiate between tone and note.

SR.NO. TONE NOTE
1. A sound of single frequency is The sound which is produced due
called a tone to a mixture of several frequencies
is called a note
2. It is not pleasant to listen. It is pleasant to listen to
3. Example is music

Q.5 Differentiate between music and noise.

MUSIC NOISE
i. Music produces a pleasant effect on i. Noise is unpleasant.
our ears and mind.
ii. Frequency is high and produces ii. Frequency is low and
regular waveform. produces irregular
waveforms.
iii. Musical sound shows no sudden iii. Noise dhows sudden
changes of amplitude or wavelength. changes in amplitude and
wavelength.

o Intensity of sound-The amount of sound energy passing each second

through unit area is called the intensity of sound.
 Give reason.
1. The sound of a thunder is heard a little later than the flash of light is
seen. Because sound travels with a speed 346 m/s which is much less
than the speed of light which is 3x108m/s.
o The speed of sound in a medium depends on temperature of the
medium. The speed of sound decreases when we go from solid to
gaseous state. In any medium as we increase the temperature the
speed of sound increases.

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 SOUND 6

o Laws of reflection of sound-

i) The directions in which the sound is incident and is reflected make
equal angles with the normal to the reflecting surface at the point of
incidence, and
ii) The three are in the same plane.

o The sensation of sound persists in our brain for about 0.1s, to hear a
distinct echo the time interval between the original sound and the
reflected one must be at least 0.1s.
o To find the total distance covered by sound, we have
Speed of sound=344m/s, time= 0.1s
Speed = distance/time
344= distance/0.1
So distance= 34.4m
o Thus for hearing distinct echoes, the minimum distance of obstacle
from the source of sound must be half of this distance, that is 17.2m
(17.2+17.2=34.4m)
o Reverberation-
o The repeated reflection that results in persistence of sound is called
reverberation.
 Give reason
1. In an auditorium or big hall are covered with sound absorbent materials
like compressed fiberboard, rough plaster or draperies. The seat
materials are also selected on the basis of their sound absorbing
properties. This is to reduce reverberation purpose.

2. Uses of multiple reflection of sound are:

o Megaphone or loudhailers, horns, musical instruments such as
trumpets and shehnaai, are designed to send sound in a particular
direction
o Stethoscope is a medical instrument used for listening to sound
produced with the body, in the heart or lungs.
 Give reason
1. Ceilings of concert halls, conference halls and cinema halls are curved so
that sound after reflection reaches all corners of the hall.
2. Sometimes a curved soundboard may be placed behind the stage so that
the sound, after reflecting from the sound board, spreads evenly across
the width of the hall.
- The audible range of sound for human beings extends from about 20Hz
to 20000Hz.

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 SOUND 7

Q.6 Differentiate between Infrasonic sound and Ultrasonic sound.

INFRASONIC SOUND
i. Sounds of frequencies below
20Hz are called infrasonic
sound or infrasound.
ii. Ex. The vibration of pendulum
o Rhinoceroses, Whales and
elephants communicate
using infrasound.
Earthquakes produce
infrasound before the main
shock waves.
ULTRASONIC SOUND
i. Frequencies higher than 20
kHz are called ultrasonic
sound or ultrasound.
ii. Ultrasounds are produced by
dolphins, bats and porpoises.
o Rats also produce
ultrasound. Hear the high
frequency squeaks of the
bat.

o Applications of ultrasound-
1. Ultrasound is generally used to clean parts located in hard-to-reach
places.
2. Ultrasound can be used to detect cracks and flaws in metal blocks.
3. Ultrasonic waves are made to reflect from various parts of the heart and
from the image of the heart. This is called echocardiography (ECG).
4. Ultrasound scanner uses ultrasonic waves for getting images of internal
organs of the human body. It helps the doctor to detect abnormalities such
as stone in the gall bladder. This is called ultrasonography.
5. Ultrasound may be employed to break small stones of the kidneys into
fine grains.
o SONAR
SONAR - stands for SOund Navigation and Ranging.
o Sonar is a device that uses ultrasonic waves to measure the distance,
direction and speed of underwater objects. The sonar technique is
used to determine the depth of the sea and to locate underwater
hills, valleys, submarine, icebergs, sunken ship etc.

- Let time interval between transmission and reception of ultrasound= t

Speed of the sound= v
So total distance,
2d = v×t

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 SOUND 8

o The outer ear

- The outer ear called pinna collects the sound from the surroundings.
This sound passes through the auditory canal.
- At the end of auditory canal, there is a thin membrane called the ear
drum or tympanic membrane. When a compression of the medium
reaches the eardrum the pressure on the outside of the membrane
increases and forces the eardrum inward. Similarly, the eardrum moves
outward when a rarefaction reaches it. The eardrum vibrates.
o Middle ear
- The vibrations are amplified several times by three bones the hammer,
anvil and stirrup. In the middle ear. The middle ear transmits the
amplified pressure variations received from the sound wave to the inner
ear.
o Inner ear
In the inner ear, the pressure variations are turned into electrical signals by the
cochlea. These electrical signals are sent to the brain via the auditory nerve,
the brain interprets them as sound.

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2018-19