26 Sound

Sound is a form of energy that

spreads out through space.

26 Sound

When a singer sings, the

vocal chords in the singers
throat vibrate, causing
adjacent air molecules to
vibrate. A series of ripples in
the form of a longitudinal
wave travels through the air.
Vibrations in the eardrum
send rhythmic electrical
impulses into your brain and
you hear the voice of the
singer.

26 Sound

26.1 The Origin of Sound

All sounds originate in the vibrations

of material objects.

26 Sound

26.1 The Origin of Sound

The source of all sound
waves is vibration.

26 Sound

26.1 The Origin of Sound

In a piano, violin, or guitar, a sound wave is produced by
vibrating strings.
In a saxophone, a reed vibrates; in a flute, a fluttering column
of air at the mouthpiece vibrates.
Your voice results from the vibration of your vocal chords.

26 Sound

26.1 The Origin of Sound

In each case, the original vibration stimulates the vibration of
something larger or more massive.
the sounding board of a stringed instrument
the air column within a reed or wind instrument
the air in the throat and mouth of a singer
This vibrating material then sends a disturbance through a
surrounding medium, air, in the form of longitudinal waves.
The frequency of the sound waves produced equals the
frequency of the vibrating source.

26 Sound

26.1 The Origin of Sound

We describe our subjective impression about the frequency of
sound by the word pitch.
A high-pitched sound like that from a piccolo has a high
vibration frequency.
A low-pitched sound like that from a foghorn has a low
vibration frequency.

26 Sound

26.1 The Origin of Sound

A young person can normally hear pitches with frequencies
from about 20 to 20,000 hertz.
As we grow older, our hearing range shrinks, especially at the
high-frequency end.

26 Sound

26.1 The Origin of Sound

Sound waves with frequencies below 20 hertz
are called infrasonic.
Sound waves with frequencies above
20,000 hertz are called ultrasonic.
Humans cannot hear infrasonic or ultrasonic
sound waves. Dogs, however, can hear
frequencies of 40,000 Hz or more. Bats can
hear sounds at over 100,000 Hz.

26 Sound

26.1 The Origin of Sound

What is the source of all sound?

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

As a source of sound vibrates, a series of

compressions and rarefactions travels outward from
the source.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

Clap your hands and you produce a sound pulse that
goes out in all directions.
Each particle moves back and forth along the direction of
motion of the expanding wave.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

A compression travels along the spring similar to the way
a sound wave travels in air.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

Opening and closing a door produces compressions and
rarefactions.
a.When the door is opened, a compression travels
across the room.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

Opening and closing a door produces compressions and
rarefactions.
a.When the door is opened, a compression travels
across the room.
b.When the door is closed, a rarefaction travels
across the room.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

When you quickly open a door, you can imagine the door
pushing the molecules next to it into their neighbors.
Neighboring molecules then push into their neighbors, and
so on, like a compression wave moving along a spring.
A pulse of compressed air moves from the door to the
curtain, pushing the curtain out the window.
This pulse of compressed air is called a compression.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

When you quickly close the door, the door pushes
neighboring air molecules out of the room.
This produces an area of low pressure next to the door.
Nearby molecules move in, leaving a zone of lower pressure
behind them.
Molecules then move into these regions, resulting in a lowpressure pulse moving from the door to the curtain.
This pulse of low-pressure air is called a rarefaction.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

For all wave motion, it is not the medium that travels across
the room, but a pulse that travels.
In both cases the pulse travels from the door to the curtain.
We know this because in both cases the curtain moves after
the door is opened or closed.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

On a much smaller but more rapid
scale, this is what happens when a
tuning fork is struck or when a
speaker produces music.
The vibrations of the tuning fork and
the waves it produces are
considerably higher in frequency and
lower in amplitude than in the case of
the swinging door.
You dont notice the effect of sound
waves on the curtain, but you are
well aware of them when they meet
your sensitive eardrums.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

Consider sound waves in a tube.
When the prong of a tuning fork next to the tube moves
toward the tube, a compression enters the tube.
When the prong swings away, in the opposite direction,
a rarefaction follows the compression.
As the source vibrates, a series of compressions and
rarefactions is produced.

26 Sound

26.2 Sound in Air

How does a sound wave travel through air?

26 Sound

26.3 Media That Transmit Sound

Sound travels in solids, liquids, and gases.

26 Sound

26.3 Media That Transmit Sound

Most sounds you hear are transmitted through the air.
Put your ear to a metal fence and have a friend tap it far
away. Sound is transmitted louder and faster by the metal
than by the air.
Click two rocks together underwater while your ear is
submerged. Youll hear the clicking sound very clearly.
Solids and liquids are generally good conductors of sound.

26 Sound

26.3 Media That Transmit Sound

The speed of sound differs in different materials.
In general, sound is transmitted faster in liquids than in
gases, and still faster in solids.

26 Sound

26.3 Media That Transmit Sound

Sound cannot travel
in a vacuum.
The transmission of sound
requires a medium. There
may be vibrations, but if
there is nothing to compress
and expand, there can be
no sound.
Sound can be heard from
the ringing bell when air is
inside the jar, but not when
the air is removed.

26 Sound

26.3 Media That Transmit Sound

What media transmit sound?

26 Sound

26.4 Speed of Sound

The speed of sound in a gas depends on the
temperature of the gas and the mass of the particles
in the gas.

The speed of sound in a material depends on the

materials elasticity.

26 Sound

26.4 Speed of Sound

If you watch a distant person hammering, the sound of the
blow takes time to reach your ears, so you see the blow and
then hear it.
You hear thunder after you see the lightning.
These experiences are evidence that sound is much slower
than light.

26 Sound

26.4 Speed of Sound

The speed of sound in dry air at 0C is about 330 meters per
second, or about 1200 kilometers per hour.
This is about one-millionth the speed of light.
Increased temperatures increase this speed slightlyfastermoving molecules bump into each other more often.
For each degree increase in air temperature above 0C, the
speed of sound in air increases by about 0.60 m/s.

26 Sound

26.4 Speed of Sound

The speed of sound in a gas also depends on the mass of
its particles.
Lighter particles such as hydrogen molecules and helium
atoms move faster and transmit sound much more quickly
than heavier gases such as oxygen and nitrogen.

26 Sound

26.4 Speed of Sound

The speed of sound in a solid material depends not on the
materials density, but on its elasticity. Elasticity is the ability of
a material to change shape in response to an applied force,
and then resume its initial shape.
Steel is very elastic.
Putty is inelastic.
Sound travels about 15 times faster in steel than in air, and
about four times faster in water than in air.

26 Sound

26.4 Speed of Sound

think!
How far away is a storm if you note a 3-second delay
between a lightning flash and the sound of thunder?

26 Sound

26.4 Speed of Sound

think!
How far away is a storm if you note a 3-second delay
between a lightning flash and the sound of thunder?
Answer:
For a speed of sound in air of 340 m/s, the distance is
(340 m/s) (3 s) = about 1000 m or 1 km. Time for the light
is negligible, so the storm is about 1 km away.

26 Sound

26.4 Speed of Sound

What determines the speed of

sound in a medium?

26 Sound

26.5 Loudness

Sound intensity is objective and is measured by

instruments. Loudness, on the other hand, is a
physiological sensation sensed in the brain.

26 Sound

26.5 Loudness
The intensity of a sound is proportional to the square of the
amplitude of a sound wave.
Loudness, however, differs for different people, although it is
related to sound intensity.
The unit of intensity for sound is the decibel (dB), after
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone.

26 Sound

26.5 Loudness
The speaker vibrates in rhythm with an electric signal. The
sound sets up similar vibrations in the microphone, which are
displayed on the screen of an oscilloscope.

26 Sound

26.5 Loudness
Starting with zero at the threshold
normal hearing, an increase of each
10 dB means that sound intensity
increases by a factor of 10.
A sound of 10 dB is 10 times as
intense as sound of 0 dB.
20 dB is not twice but 10 times
as intense as 10 dB, or 100
times as intense as the
threshold of hearing.
A 60-dB sound is 100 times as
intense as a 40-dB sound.

26 Sound

26.5 Loudness

26 Sound

26.5 Loudness
Hearing damage begins at 85 decibels. The damage
depends on the length of exposure and on frequency
characteristics.
A single burst of sound can produce vibrations
intense enough to tear apart the organ of Corti, the
receptor organ in the inner ear.
Less intense, but severe, noise can interfere with
cellular processes in the organ and cause its
eventual breakdown.
Unfortunately, the cells of the organ do not
regenerate.

26 Sound

26.5 Loudness

26 Sound

26.5 Loudness

What is the difference between sound

intensity and loudness?

26 Sound

26.6 Natural Frequency

When any object composed of an elastic material is

disturbed, it vibrates at its own special set of
frequencies, which together form its special sound.

26 Sound

26.6 Natural Frequency

Drop a wrench and a baseball bat on the floor, and you hear
distinctly different sounds.
Objects vibrate differently when they strike the floor.
We speak of an objects natural frequency, the frequency at
which an object vibrates when it is disturbed.

26 Sound

26.6 Natural Frequency

Natural frequency depends
on the elasticity and shape
of the object.
The natural frequency of the
smaller bell is higher than
that of the big bell, and it
rings at a higher pitch.

26 Sound

26.6 Natural Frequency

Most thingsplanets, atoms, and almost everything in
betweenhave a springiness and vibrate at one or more
natural frequencies.
A natural frequency is one at which minimum energy is
required to produce forced vibrations and the least amount of
energy is required to continue this vibration.

26 Sound

26.6 Natural Frequency

What happens when an elastic material

is disturbed?

26 Sound

26.7 Forced Vibration

Sounding boards are an important part of all

stringed musical instruments because they are
forced into vibration and produce the sound.

26 Sound

26.7 Forced Vibration

An unmounted tuning fork makes a faint sound.
Strike a tuning fork while holding its base on a tabletop,
and the sound is relatively loud because the table is
forced to vibrate.
Its larger surface sets more air in motion.
A forced vibration occurs when an object is made to
vibrate by another vibrating object that is nearby.

26 Sound

26.7 Forced Vibration

The vibration of guitar strings in an acoustical guitar
would be faint if they werent transmitted to the guitars
wooden body.
The mechanism in a music box is mounted on a
sounding board.
Without the sounding board, the sound the music box
mechanism makes is barely audible.

26 Sound

26.7 Forced Vibration

When the string is plucked,
the washtub is set into
forced vibration and serves
as a sounding board.

26 Sound

26.7 Forced Vibration

Why are sounding boards an important

part of stringed instruments?

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance

An object resonates when there is a force to pull it

back to its starting position and enough energy to
keep it vibrating.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance
If the frequency of a forced
vibration matches an objects
natural frequency, resonance
dramatically increases the
amplitude.
You pump a swing in rhythm with
the swings natural frequency.
Timing is more important than the
force with which you pump.
Even small pumps or pushes in
rhythm with the natural frequency
of the swinging motion produce
large amplitudes.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance
If two tuning forks are adjusted to the same frequency,
striking one fork sets the other fork into vibration.
Each compression of a sound wave gives the prong a
tiny push.
The frequency of these pushes matches the natural
frequency of the fork, so the pushes increase the
amplitude of the forks vibration.
The pushes occur at the right time and are repeatedly
in the same direction as the instantaneous motion of
the fork.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance
a.

The first compression gives the fork a tiny push.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance
a.
b.

The first compression gives the fork a tiny push.

The fork bends.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance
a.
b.
c.

The first compression gives the fork a tiny push.

The fork bends.
The fork returns to its initial position.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance
a.
b.
c.
d.

The first compression gives the fork a tiny push.

The fork bends.
The fork returns to its initial position.
It keeps moving and overshoots in the opposite direction.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

The first compression gives the fork a tiny push.

The fork bends.
The fork returns to its initial position.
It keeps moving and overshoots in the opposite direction.
When it returns to its initial position, the next compression arrives to
repeat the cycle.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance
If the forks are not adjusted for
matched frequencies, the timing of
pushes will be off and resonance will
not occur.
When you tune a radio, you are
adjusting the natural frequency of its
electronics to one of the many
incoming signals.
The radio then resonates to one
station at a time.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance
Resonance occurs whenever successive
impulses are applied to a vibrating object in
rhythm with its natural frequency.
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse was
caused by resonance.
Wind produced a force that resonated with
the natural frequency of the bridge.
Amplitude increased steadily over several
hours until the bridge collapsed.

26 Sound

26.8 Resonance

What causes resonance?

26 Sound

26.9 Interference

When constructive interference occurs with sound

waves, the listener hears a louder sound. When
destructive interference occurs, the listener hears a
fainter sound or no sound at all.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference
Sound waves, like any waves, can be made to interfere.
For sound, the crest of a wave corresponds to a
compression.
The trough of a wave corresponds to a rarefaction.
When the crests of one wave overlap the crests of
another wave, there is constructive interference.
When the crests of one wave overlap the troughs of
another wave, there is destructive interference.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference
Both transverse and longitudinal waves display wave
interference when they are superimposed.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference
A listener equally distant from two sound speakers that
trigger identical sound waves of constant frequency hears
louder sound.
The waves add because the compressions and rarefactions
arrive in phase.
If the distance between the two speakers and the listener
differs by a half wavelength, rarefactions from one speaker
arrive at the same time as compressions from the other.
This causes destructive interference.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference
a. Waves arrive in phase.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference
a. Waves arrive in phase.
b. Waves arrive out of phase.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference
Destructive interference of sound waves is usually
not a problem.
There is usually enough reflection of sound to fill in
canceled spots.
Sometimes dead spots occur in poorly designed
theaters and gymnasiums.
Reflected sound waves interfere with unreflected
waves to form zones of low amplitude.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference
Destructive sound interference is used in antinoise technology.
Noisy devices such as jackhammers have microphones that
send the sound of the device to electronic microchips.
The microchips create mirror-image wave patterns that are fed
to earphones worn by the operator.
Sound waves from the hammer are neutralized by mirror-image
waves in the earphones.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference
In some automobiles, noise-detecting microphones
inside the car pick up engine or road noise.
Speakers in the car then emit an opposite signal
that cancels out those noises, so the human ear
cant detect them.
The cabins of some airplanes are now quieted with
antinoise technology.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference
Ken Ford tows gliders in quiet comfort when he wears
his noise-canceling earphones.

26 Sound

26.9 Interference

What are the effects of constructive and

destructive interference?

26 Sound

26.10 Beats

When two tones of slightly different frequency are

sounded together, a regular fluctuation in the
loudness of the combined sounds is heard.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
When two tones of slightly different frequency are
sounded together the sound is loud, then faint, then
loud, then faint, and so on.
This periodic variation in the loudness of sound is
called beats.
Beats can be heard when two slightly mismatched
tuning forks are sounded together.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
The vibrations of the forks will be momentarily in step,
then out of step, then in again, and so on.
When the combined waves reach your ears in
step, the sound is a maximum.
When the forks are out of step, a compression
from one fork is met with a rarefaction from the
other, resulting in a minimum.
The sound that reaches your ears throbs between
maximum and minimum loudness and produces a
tremolo effect.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
Walk with someone who has a different stride, and at
times you are both in step, at other times you are both
out of step.
In general, the number of times you are in step in each
unit of time is equal to the difference in the frequencies
of your steps.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
This applies also to a pair of tuning forks.
When one fork vibrates 264 times per second, and the
other fork vibrates 262 times per second, they are in
step twice each second.
A beat frequency of 2 hertz is heard.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
Representations of a
10-Hz sound wave and
a 12-Hz sound wave
during a 1-second time
interval. The two waves
overlap to produce a
composite wave with a
beat frequency of 2 Hz.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
Although the separate waves are of constant amplitude, we
see amplitude variations in a superposed wave form.
This variation is produced by the interference of the two
superposed waves.
Maximum amplitude of the composite wave occurs when
both waves are in phase.
Minimum amplitude occurs when both waves are
completely out of phase.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
If you overlap two combs of different teeth spacings, youll see
a moir pattern that is related to beats. The number of beats
per length will equal the difference in the number of teeth per
length for the two combs.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
Beats can occur with any kind of wave and are a practical
way to compare frequencies.
To tune a piano, a piano tuner listens for beats produced
between a standard tuning fork and a particular string on
the piano.
When the frequencies are identical, the beats disappear.
The members of an orchestra tune up by listening for
beats between their instruments and a standard tone.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
think!
What is the beat frequency when a 262-Hz and a 266-Hz
tuning fork are sounded together? A 262-Hz and a 272-Hz?

26 Sound

26.10 Beats
think!
What is the beat frequency when a 262-Hz and a 266-Hz
tuning fork are sounded together? A 262-Hz and a 272-Hz?
Answer:
The 262-Hz and 266-Hz forks will produce 4 beats per
second, that is, 4 Hz (266 Hz minus 262 Hz). The 262-Hz
and 272-Hz forks will sound like a tone at 267 Hz beating
10 times per second, or 10 Hz.

26 Sound

26.10 Beats

What causes beats?

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
1.

The sound waves that humans cannot hear are those with frequencies
a. from 20 to 20,000 Hz.
b. below 20 Hz.
c. above 20,000 Hz.
d. both B and C

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
1.

The sound waves that humans cannot hear are those with frequencies
a. from 20 to 20,000 Hz.
b. below 20 Hz.
c. above 20,000 Hz.
d. both B and C

Answer: D

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
2.

Sound travels in air by a series of

a. compressions.
b. rarefactions.
c. both compressions and rarefactions.
d. pitches.

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
2.

Sound travels in air by a series of

a. compressions.
b. rarefactions.
c. both compressions and rarefactions.
d. pitches.

Answer: C

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
3.

Sound travels faster in

a. a vacuum compared to liquids.
b. gases compared to liquids.
c. gases compared to solids.
d. solids compared to gases.

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
3.

Sound travels faster in

a. a vacuum compared to liquids.
b. gases compared to liquids.
c. gases compared to solids.
d. solids compared to gases.

Answer: D

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
4.

The speed of sound varies with

a. amplitude.
b. frequency.
c. temperature.
d. pitch.

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
4.

The speed of sound varies with

a. amplitude.
b. frequency.
c. temperature.
d. pitch.

Answer: C

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
5.

The loudness of a sound is most closely related to its

a. frequency.
b. period.
c. wavelength.
d. intensity.

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
5.

The loudness of a sound is most closely related to its

a. frequency.
b. period.
c. wavelength.
d. intensity.

Answer: D

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
6.

When you tap various objects they produce characteristic sounds

that are related to
a. wavelength.
b. amplitude.
c. period.
d. natural frequency.

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
6.

When you tap various objects they produce characteristic sounds

that are related to
a. wavelength.
b. amplitude.
c. period.
d. natural frequency.

Answer: D

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
7.

When the surface of a guitar is made to vibrate we say it undergoes

a. forced vibration.
b. resonance.
c. refraction.
d. amplitude reduction.

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
7.

When the surface of a guitar is made to vibrate we say it undergoes

a. forced vibration.
b. resonance.
c. refraction.
d. amplitude reduction.

Answer: A

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
8.

When an object is set into vibration by a wave having a frequency

that matches the natural frequency of the object, what occurs is
a. forced vibration.
b. resonance.
c. refraction.
d. amplitude reduction.

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
8.

When an object is set into vibration by a wave having a frequency

that matches the natural frequency of the object, what occurs is
a. forced vibration.
b. resonance.
c. refraction.
d. amplitude reduction.

Answer: B

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
9.

Noise-canceling devices such as jackhammer earphones make

use of sound
a. destruction.
b. interference.
c. resonance.
d. amplification.

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
9.

Noise-canceling devices such as jackhammer earphones make

use of sound
a. destruction.
b. interference.
c. resonance.
d. amplification.

Answer: B

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
10. The phenomenon of beats is the result of sound
a. destruction.
b. interference.
c. resonance.
d. amplification.

26 Sound

Assessment Questions
10. The phenomenon of beats is the result of sound
a. destruction.
b. interference.
c. resonance.
d. amplification.
Answer: B