Physics of Waves

Physics of Waves:
SOUND
• MAKING WAVES
• AT THE SPEED OF SOUND
• SEEING SOUNDS
• HOW SOUNDS TRAVEL
Simple Activity: How do we make
sound?
1. Dog
2. Cat
3. Pig
4. Crow
5. Cow
MAKING SOUND USING INSTRUMENTS
Vibrations are transmitted to the

body of the instrument and along ‘Air Column’ is made to vibrate by Vibrations are produced by striking
with the air inside it. May be too blowing across it. them.
fast or too small to see
How does the sound produce by these
instruments reach us?
Part (or all) of Then causes the Some vibrations,

Then vibrations
the instrument is nearby air reach us through the
travel through
made to particles to ground that made
air to the
VIBRATE vibrate our whole body
audience’s ears
vibrate
Questions to ponder?
When do you have to make your voice

louder?
When do you hear echo?
What do you hear when you are under
water?
WHEN WE PRODUCE SOUND..
It travels as WAVES in different mediums (solid, liquid and
gas) – MECHANICAL WAVES
 Solid: It travels FASTEST, the denser the medium, more frequent the
vibration and quicker transportation (closely packed particles). It may
bounce off to produce ECHO. MECHANICAL
WAVES – waves
that need or
 Liquid: It travels in an average speed (slower than solids), the waves require a medium
refract in the water so you don’t hear it the words clearly. in order to move
 Gas: It travels the SLOWEST. Least dense, particles are widely spread
so the vibration is slow and weak. And it travels through!
So, how does sound wave move?
BACK FORTH
SOUND IS A MECHANICAL WAVE and
also a LONGITUDINAL WAVE
Tells the direction and
motion of the wave
Compressional Wave (longitudinal)
• A mechanical wave in which matter in the medium
moves forward and backward along the same
direction that the wave travels.
• Ex. Sound waves
A slinky is a good illustration
of how a compressional
wave moves
Parts of a Compressional
Wave (Longitudinal)
The compression is the part of the

compressional wave where the particles
are crowded together.
Parts of a Compressional
Wave (Longitudinal)
The rarefaction is the part of the

compressional wave where the particles
are spread apart.
PITCH: VIBRATIONS IN SOUNDWAVES
• The vibration per second as manifested by the
sound waves is called FREQUENCY which is
measured in Hertz (Hz)
• 1 Hz = 1 vibration/second
A HEALTHY HUMAN EAR CAN
HOLD..
Range of audible frequencies: 20 Hz – 20000 Hz
SPEED OF SOUND IN AIR
 About 330 m/s or 1200 km/h.
Calculating speed of sound: If we are speaking to someone who is just 1m away, the
time for sounds to travel between us is ___________.
2. A man shouts loudly to a high wall. He hears one echo. If the man is 40m from the
wall, how long after the shout will the echo be heard? (Speed of sound = 330m/s)
Step 1: Calculate the distance (distance will be twice – since sound travels there
and back?
Step 2: Calculate the time taken
QUICK QUESTIONS:
1. Which of the following materials can sound travel through: wood, air, water?
2. When a woodwind instrument such as a flute produces a note, what part of it vibrates?
3. Sound takes about 3 ms (milliseconds) to travel 1m. How long will it take to travel from the
centre of a cricket pitch to spectators who are 200m away?
4. Which travels faster light or sound? Give me one example
SEEING SOUNDS
 MICROPHONE – receives vibration
from the instrument then convert it into
electric signals
 OSCILLOSCOPE – electric signals in the

form of wave show up-and-down pattern
of the vibration that is trace on its screen.
PURE NOTES
 What is a SIGNAL GENERATOR?
Signal generator produces pure notes that

have a very simple shape as displayed on the
screen. Usually connected to oscilloscope to produce
the pure notes into wave.
One important measurement:
 Period (T) – number of seconds for one vibration

 frequency (f) – number of vibrations per second
Hence: frequency = 1 / period

f = 1/T
HIGH AND LOW, LOUD AND
SOFT
Transverse WAVE CHARACTERISTICS:
 WAVELENGTH  - distance from one crest of wave to the next
or between two troughs
 CREST – highest point on a wave
 TROUGH – lowest point of the wave
 AMPLITUDE a – distance from the undisturbed level
to the trough or crest
AMPLITUDE, FREQUENCY
ANALYSIS
a. SAME AMPLITUDE = SAME LOUDNESS
Second image shows squashed or compressed notes
into the same space – FREQUENCY IS HIGHER =
PITCH IS HIGHER = SOUND IS HIGHER
b. Two notes with SAME FREQUENCY

Second image has GREATER AMPLITUDE =
SOUND IS LOUDER
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR SOUND TO
TRAVEL THROUGH A
VACUUM?
Sound is a mechanical wave that requires a medium
in order to travel.
VACUUM on the other hand, has no molecules or

other particles to vibrate back and forth.
QUIZ (COPY AND ANSWER)
1. It is the special part of the ear that responds to certain range of frequencies from 20Hz to 20kHz.
2. What happens to the pitch of a sound if its frequency increases?
3. What happens to the loudness of a sound if its amplitude decreases?
4. What is the approximate frequency range of human hearing?
5. Does the range of frequency for humans change as they age? How?
6. What is meant by ultrasound?
7. Why is it impossible for sound to travel through a vacuum?
8. How could you convince a small child that, when you speak, it is not necessary for air to travel from your mouth to the ear of a
listener?
9. Sound A has a period of 0.010s; sound B has a period of 0.020s. (f=1/T)
a. Which has the greater frequency?
b. Which will sound more high-pitched?
10. Differentiate the parts of a compressional or longitudinal wave?
11. Differentiate the parts of a transverse wave?
12. Sound requires a medium in order to travel, what do we call these waves?
13. How does echo occur?
14. Sound travels fastest in _____________? Why?
15. Sound travels slowest in _______________? Why?

Physics of Waves

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Physics of Waves

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Physics of Waves

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Physics of Waves:

Vibrations are transmitted to the

Part (or all) of Then causes the Some vibrations,

When do you have to make your voice

The compression is the part of the

The rarefaction is the part of the

 OSCILLOSCOPE – electric signals in the

Signal generator produces pure notes that

 Period (T) – number of seconds for one vibration

Hence: frequency = 1 / period

b. Two notes with SAME FREQUENCY

VACUUM on the other hand, has no molecules or

You might also like