NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA SAMITI, NOIDA

e-Content
Class: IX
Subject: Science
Chapter-12
SOUND

Prepared by Manjusha M Nair,PGT Physics,

JNV Wayanad,Kerala.
 WHICH FORM OF ENERGY
HELPS US IN HEARING?
 Do you like music?
 Everyday we hear from humans,
birds, bells,radio,televisions,
vehicles etc.
 It is the sound energy which help
us to hear.
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Explain the propagation of sound through a
medium.
 Identify sound waves as longitudinal waves.
 Describe the characteristics of sound
waves.
 Compare the speed of sound in different
media.
 Verify laws of reflection of sound.
 Analyse the uses of multiple reflection of
sound.
 Explain the applications of ultrasound.
 Calculate the speed of sound in a medium.
 WHAT IS SOUND?
 Sound is a form of energy which produces
a sensation of hearing in our ears.
 Sound is produced due to vibration of
different objects.
PRODUCTION OF SOUND
 SOUND AS A WAVE
 Sound travels as a longitudinal wave
through a material medium.
 The medium can be solid, liquid or gas.
 Sound travels as successive
compressions and rarefactions in the
medium
SOUND - A LONGITUDINAL WAVE
 Sound propagates in a medium as a series
of compressions (C) and rarefactions (R).
 In these waves the particles move back
and forth parallel to the direction of
propagation of the disturbance. Such waves
are called longitudinal waves.
SOUND - A LONGITUDINAL
WAVE
PROPAGATION OF SOUND
 When a vibrating object moves forward,
it pushes and compresses the air in
front of it creating a region of high
pressure. This region is called a
compression.
 When the vibrating object moves
backwards, it creates a region of low
pressure called rarefaction (R).
SOUND- A SERIES OF COMPRESSIONS
(C) AND RAREFACTIONS(R)

C R C R C R C R
 PROPAGATION OF SOUND
 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.
PROPAGATION OF SOUND
 The propagation of sound can be
visualized as propagation of density
variations or pressure variations in the
medium.
SOUND-A MECHANICAL WAVE
 Sound cannot travel in vacuum.
 Sound is a mechanical wave and needs
a material medium like air, water, steel
etc. for its propagation. It cannot travel
through vacuum.
 Sound waves are characterised by the
motion of particles in the medium and
are called mechanical waves.
SOUND NEEDS A MEDIUM TO TRAVEL
 Sound is a mechanical wave and
needs a medium for propagation.

Bell
jar experiment can prove this
nature of sound wave.
Cork
.

Bell jar

Electric bell
CHARACTERISTICS OF A
SOUND WAVE
 The change in density from one maximum
value to the minimum value and again to the
maximum value makes one complete
oscillation.
 The distance between two consecutive
compressions or two consecutive rarefactions
is called the wavelength,represented by λ,
(Greek letter lambda)
 The SI unit is meter(m).
 CHARACTERISTICS OF A
SOUND WAVE
 The magnitude of disturbance in a
medium on either side of the mean
value is called an amplitude (A).
As shown in the figure below, amplitude
is the distance between mean position
and crest (maximum displacement).
 CHARACTERISTICS OF A
SOUND WAVE
 The time taken by the wave for one
complete oscillation of the density or
pressure of the medium is called the
time period, T.
 SI unit is second (s).
 The number of complete oscillations
per unit time is called the frequency
(ν), Greek letter, nu.
 SI unit is hertz(Hz), or 1/s
 Frequency and time period are
related as follows,
frequency=1/timeperiod or ν=1/T
 SPEED OF SOUND
 The speed of sound is defined as the
distance which a point on a wave travels
per unit time.
 λ is the wavelength, which is the
distance travelled in one time period.
 Hence Speed= distance/time or v= λ/T
 The speed v, frequency ν , and
wavelength λ, of sound are related by
the equation,
v = λ /T or v=λν.
 Speed = wavelength x time period
 SPEED OF SOUND IN
DIFFERENT MEDIA
 The speed of sound depends primarily
on the nature and the temperature of
the transmitting 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.
 For example, the speed of sound in air is
331 ms–1 at 0 ºC and 344 ms–1 at 22
ºC.
 Speed of sound in different media at 250C.

State Substance Speed in m/s

Solid Aluminium 6420

Steel 5960

Iron 5950

Brass 4700

Glass 3980

Liquid Water (Sea) 1531

Water (Distilled) 1498

Ethanol 1207

Methanol 1103

Gas Hydrogen 1284

Helium 965

Air 346

Oxygen 316

Sulphur dioxide 213

 REFLECTION OF SOUND
Like light, sound gets reflected at the surface
of a solid or liquid and follows the laws of
reflection.
i) The angle of incidence is equal to the angle
of reflection.
ii) The incident ray, the reflected ray and normal
at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
 ECHO
 For hearing a distinct sound, the time
interval between the original sound
and the reflected one must be at
least 0.1 s.
 The minimum distance of the
obstacle from the source of sound
must be 17.2 m.
REVERBERATION

 A reverberation is the persistence of a sound

after a sound is produced.
 It is created when a sound signal is reflected
multiple of times until it reaches a sound wave
that cannot be heard by human ears.
 In an auditorium or big hall excessive
reverberation is highly undesirable.
 To reduce reverberation, the roof and walls
of the auditorium are generally covered with
sound-absorbent materials.
USES OF MULTIPLE REFLECTION
OF SOUND
 Megaphones ,horns, musical
instruments such as trumpets and
shehanais, are all designed to send
sound in a particular direction without
spreading it in all directions.
USES OF MULTIPLE REFLECTION
OF SOUND
 Stethoscope is a medical instrument used for
listening to sounds produced in the heart or lungs of
human body.
 In stethoscopes the sound of the patient’s
heartbeat reaches the doctor’s ears by multiple
reflection of sound.
 USES OF MULTIPLE REFLECTION
OF SOUND

 The curved ceilings of concert halls and

conference halls make the sound after
reflection reach all corners of the hall.
 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.
 PROPERTIES OF SOUND
 Sound properties such as pitch, loudness
and quality are determined by the
corresponding wave properties.
 The loudness or softness of a sound is
determined basically by its amplitude. The
amplitude of the sound wave depends upon
the force with which an object is made to
vibrate.
LOUDNESS AND INTENSITY
 Loudness is a physiological response of
the ear to the intensity of sound.
 The amount of sound energy passing
each second through unit area is called
the intensity of sound.
 PITCH
 If the frequency of vibration is higher, the
sound is shrill and has a high pitch.
 If the sound is said to have a lower pitch
then it has a lower frequency of vibration.
 A bird produces high pitched sound
whereas roaring of a lion is a low pitched
sound.
 QUALITY OR TIMBER
 The property that enables us to
distinguish one sound from another
having the same pitch and loudness. It
depends on the waveform produced by
the vibration of the object.
 RANGE OF HEARING
 The audible range of hearing for average
human beings is in the frequency range of
20Hz – 20 kHz.
 Infrasound-sound with frequency lower than
20Hz.
 Ultrasound-sound with frequency higher than
20KHz.
ULTRASOUND & INFRASOUND
 The waves having  The waves having
frequency less than frequency more
20 Hz are infrasonic than 20,000 Hz are
waves.
ultrasonic waves.
 A vibrating simple
pendulum produces
 Bats and rats can
infrasonic sounds. produce ultrasonic
 Elephants and whales sounds.
produces infrasonic
waves.
 Earthquakes produces
infrasonic waves
APPLICATIONS OF
ULTRASOUND
 Industrial applications:
 To clean parts located in hard-to-reach
places, for example, spiral tube, odd
shaped parts, electronic components etc.
 To detect cracks and flaws in metal blocks.
APPLICATIONS OF ULTRASOUND
 Medical applications:
 Echocardiography- Ultrasonic waves are made
to reflect from various parts of the heart and
form the image of the heart.
 Ultrasonography-Ultrasound scanner for getting
images of internal organs of the human body.
 Ultrasound may be employed for the treatment
of kidney stones.
 SONAR

Sonar stands for Sound Navigation And
Ranging. It is a device which uses ultrasonic
waves to measure distance, direction and
speed of underwater objects.
This technique is used to determine the
depth of the sea and to locate underwater
hills, valleys, submarine, icebergs, sunken
ship etc.
 SONAR

Ifthe time taken for the transmission

and reception of ultra sound is t and the
distance travelled is 2d by the ultra
sound, then 2d = v x t
or d = v x t
2
BATS PRODUCE
ULTRASOUND?
 The high-pitched ultrasonic squeaks of
the bat are reflected from the obstacles
or prey and returned to bat’s ear.
STRUCTURE OF HUMAN EAR
Human Ear
STRUCTURE OF HUMAN EAR
 Ear allows us to convert pressure
variations in air with audible frequencies
into electric signals that travel to the
brain via the auditory nerve.
 RECAPITULATION:
 Sound is a longitudinal wave which
travels in the form of sets of
compressions and rarefactions.
 Sound requires a medium to travel.
 Frequency, time period, amplitude, speed
and wavelength are the important
characteristics of sound wave.
 Sound waves undergo reflection obeying
the laws of reflection.
 Multiple reflection of sound has many
practical applications.
 RECAPITULATION:
 Human audible range is 20Hz to
20000Hz.
 Infrasound-sound with frequency lower
than 20Hz.
 Ultrasound-sound with frequency higher
than 20KHz.
 Ultrasound has many industrial as well
as medical applications.
 Human ear is a very sensitive organ
which help us to hear various kinds of
sounds.
 HOMEWORK
 Explain an activity with neat diagram to
prove that sound needs a medium to travel.
 Define pitch, loudness and quality of sound.
 Mention the applications of ultrasound.
 What is meant by reverberation?
 What is the minimum distance between the
source and the obstacle to hear a distinct
echo?
 A sound wave has a frequency of 2 kHz
and wave length 35 cm. Calculate the
speed of the wave?
THANKS