SOUND

P P T P R E PA R E D B Y : R I C H A S E T H
YOU WILL LEARN :
• Sources of Sound

• Sound as a longitudinal wave

• Characteristics of a sound wave : Amplitude and Frequency

• Sound needs a medium to propagate

• Reflection and Absorption of sound

• Relative speed of sound in different mediums

WHAT IS SOUND ?
• Sound is a form of energy that produces a sensation of hearing in our ears.
• Sound is produced due to vibrations :
• Sound is produced when a body vibrates.
• Each source of sound is a vibrating body.
• Examples :
❖When we blow a whistle, the vibrations of particles in air produce sound.
❖When we speak, our vocal cords vibrate to produce sound in the larynx. This
can be felt by placing our hand on the throat.
❖When a bell is struck, it vibrates to produce sound.
Conclusion:
• Sound is produced by the vibrations in a body.
• When the body stops vibrating, the sound produced by it also ceases.
SOURCES OF SOUND :
1. Tuning fork :
It is a U shaped metallic piece
with a stem in the middle.
Its arms are known as prongs.
If we strike its prongs gently on
a rubber pad, they are set into
vibration s and a sound is
produced.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS :
• All musical instruments
produce sound due to
vibrations.
• They may be classified as
follows :
• Wind instruments :
• They produce sound when air
is blown into them. The column
of air inside them vibrates
producing sound. The sound in
these instruments is created by
a stream of air that flows
through them from the
musician’s mouth. Eg. Whistle,
flute and clarinet
SOURCES OF SOUND :
• Musical Instruments :
• String Instruments :
• These instruments have a set of strings. They produce sound when the players pluck, struck or rub
with bows the stretched strings attached to them vibrate.
• In a sitar and guitar, the string is plucked, in a piano, the string is struck and in violin , a bow is
drawn across the string to make the string vibrate and produce sound.
SOURCES OF SOUND :
• Musical Instruments :
• Percussion Instruments :
• These instruments produce musical sounds when the membranes on them are struck, shaken,
scraped, plucked or rubbed .Some of these instruments have bodies that vibrate to produce a
sound. Eg. Dholak, tabla
SOURCES OF SOUND :
• Musical Instruments :
• Reed Instruments :
• These instruments have
metal reeds(thin strips of
metal) and the air is
blown into the reeds to
produce sound.eg.
Harmonium, mouth organ
etc
SOURCES OF SOUND :
• Human Beings :
• Human beings produce sound with
the help of voice box called larynx.
The larynx is present in their
throat. It is a box like structure
with walls of tough tissues. The
larynx has two folds known as
vocal cords. When we breathe, the
vocal cords become loose and the
gap between them increases. When
we talk, shout or sing, the cords
become tight and hence they
vibrate to produce sound. When air Bees do not have voice boxes unlike other animals. They make
sound by moving their wings up and down very fast.
passes through these cords, they
vibrate to produce sound.
SOUND NEEDS A MEDIUM FOR PROPAGATION :
• Sound cannot travel through vacuum. On the moon and in space, there
is no atmosphere. Hence, two persons cannot hear each other..

• It requires a medium for its propagation i.e from travelling from one
point to another.
SOUND NEEDS A MEDIUM FOR PROPAGATION :
• Experiment :
• Take an electric bell and an air tight glass jar
connected to a vacuum pump. Suspend the electric bell
in the jar as shown. Connect the bell to a battery
through a switch. On pressing the switch, the bell
starts ringing and a sound is heard. The sound reaches
us through the air in the jar.
• Now start the vacuum pump. It withdraws the air from
the jar. You will notice that as the air from the jar is
evacuated, the sound becomes feeble and feeble. After
some time when no air is left in the jar, no sound is
heard. However, the hammer of the electric bell can
still be seen striking the gong. The reason is that when
no air is left in the jar, sound does not propagate to
reach us, although the bell is still ringing.
• Thus, sound cannot travel through vacuum.
SOUND TRAVELS IN AIR IN THE FORM
OF LONGITUDINAL WAVES :
• Propagation of sound
• The sound energy in air is transmitted from one place to another place by wave motion. In
wave motion, the particles of the medium do not leave their mean positions but vibrate about
their mean positions.
• When a body vibrates, the kinetic energy changes into potential energy and vice versa.
• Due to the vibration, the particles of air surrounding the body also start vibrating about their
mean positions. They push or pull the nearby particles and transfer some energy to them. They
then start vibrating faster and energy transfer to the next surrounding particles continue. This
process continues till the vibrations reach the person’s ear.
SOUND TRAVELS IN AIR IN THE FORM OF
LONGITUDINAL WAVES :
• In a longitudinal wave, at point C on either side of which the particles of air move towards the
point C , is called compression and the point R on either side of which particles of air move
away from point R is called rarefaction.

• One wave is from a compression to the next compression or from a rarefaction to the next
rarefaction.
SOUND TRAVELS IN AIR IN THE FORM OF
LONGITUDINAL WAVES :
• Graphical representation of a longitudinal wave through displacement distance graph And
displacement time graph
SOUND TRAVELS IN AIR IN THE FORM OF
LONGITUDINAL WAVES :
SOME TERMS RELATED TO A WAVE
• One vibration – The two and fro motion which constitutes one full wave is called one
vibration.One wave is from one rarefaction to the next rarefaction or from one compression
to the next compression.
• Wavelength – The length of a wave corresponding to one vibration is known as its
wavelength. It is represented by the symbol lambda. It is measured in metre.
• Amplitude – The maximum displacement of a wave on either side of its mean position is
known as the amplitude. ‘a’ is the amplitude of the wave. It is measured in metre.
• Time period – The time taken by a wave to complete one vibration is known as its time
period. It is always denoted by the letter T and is measured in seconds.
• Frequency – The number of vibrations produced by the source of a sound wave in one
second is known as its frequency. It is denoted by F or N. The unit of frequency is hertz which
is denoted by the symbol Hz.
AUDIBLE SOUND:
• Audible sound :
• Humans can hear sounds of frequencies in the range from 20 hertz to 20,000 hertz. This range
is known as the audible range for the normal human ear.
• Ultrasonic sound :
• Sounds of frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz are called ultrasonic sound.
• We cannot hear ultrasonic sounds but some animals like dogs, bats, monkeys, deers, leopards
can hear them. Dogs can hear sounds of frequency upto 50,000 Hz.
• Bats can hear sounds of frequency upto 100,000 Hz.- At night, bats easily move about without
colliding with any object. The reason is that they produce ultrasonic sound as they fly. When
this ultrasonic sound comes back after reflection from any object in their way, they hear it and
detect the presence of object and change their path.
• Infrasonic sound:
• Sounds of frequencies lower than 20 Hz are called infrasonic sound.
• We cannot hear infrasonic sounds.The pendulum of a clock makes one vibration in 2 seconds.
The frequency of sound produced due to its vibrations is 0.5 Hz. We cannot hear it.
THE FREQUENCY RANGE OF DIFFERENT
SOUNDS :

Frequency range Sound

1. Below 20 Hz Infrasonic or subsonic

2. 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz Audible

3. Above 20,000 Hz Ultrasonic

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND:
• A sound wave is characterized by its amplitude and frequency. Depending on these, there are
two important characteristics of sound :
1. Loudness
2. Pitch
Loudness :
The loudness of a sound depends on the amplitude of vibration of the body producing sound.
Greater the amplitude of vibrations, louder is the sound produced.
Loudness is a characteristic of sound which distinguishes a loud sound from a feeble sound.
Examples : If we gently pluck the strings of a guitar, a feeble sound is heard but if we pluck it hard,
a loud sound is heard because the amplitude of vibration increases in the second case.
If we strike a drum gently, a feeble sound is heard but if striked hard, a loud sound is heard.
LOUDNESS OF SOUND :
Fig 6.21 shows two waves A and B of
amplitudes a1 and a2 respectively. The
amplitude of wave B is greater than
the amplitude of wave A. Therefore,
wave B produces a louder sound than
wave A.
LOUDNESS OF SOUND:
• The loudness of sound depends on the area of the vibrating body.
• Examples :
• If we take two drums of different sizes and beat both of them to produce vibrations , we will
notice that a louder sound is produced from the big drum than that produced by the small
drum.
• In temples, a bell with a big case produces a louder sound than that with a small case.
PITCH OF SOUND:
• Pitch is the high or low frequency of a sound.
• Pitch depends on the frequency of sound. A sound of high frequency is
said to have a higher pitch while a sound with low frequency is said to have a
low pitch.
• Higher the pitch, shriller is the sound. But if the pitch is low, the sound is flat or
grave.
• Pitch is the characteristic of sound which distinguishes a shrill sound from a flat
sound.
• Example :
• A girl’s voice is shriller than a boy’s voice as the pitch of girls voice is more.
• The voice of a child is shriller than that of an adult.
PITCH OF SOUND :
Fig 6.22 shows two waves A and B in
which wave B is of higher frequency
than wave A. So, the pitch of wave B is
higher than that of wave A.
PITCH OF SOUND :

• Fig 6.23 (a) shows a test tube with a little

water in it. If we blow air in the tube by
placing our lip on the mouth of the test
tube, we will hear a flat sound. Now add
more and more water in the test tube as
shown in fig 6.23(b), (c) and (d), the
length of vibrating air column above the
water level decreases and the sound
becomes shriller and shriller.
PITCH OF SOUND :
• Examples :
• If we place a pitcher below a water tap, we notice that the sound produced
due to vibrations in its air column also becomes shriller as the level of water in
the pitcher increases.
• If we rub a postcard slowly against the teeth of a comb, we hear a grave sound
but if we rub it rapidly, the sound is now shriller than before.
• We change the pitch of sound in musical instruments by changing the length of
the vibrating air column when different holes are closed in it.
• Two ways of changing the pitch in stringed instruments :
• By changing the place of plucking the string.
• By changing the tensions or thickness of the string.
SPEED OF SOUND:
• Sound requires a medium to propagate.
• The speed of sound is much lesser than speed of light. It takes negligible time for light to reach us
but sound takes a much longer time to reach us.
• Eg: In the rainy season, the sound of thunder is heard much later than the flash of light is seen.
• Estimation of speed of sound in air :
• Suppose we choose two hills A and B about a kilometre apart. A person at hill A fires a gun.
Another person at hill B starts a stopwatch as he sees he flash of fire and stops it on hearing the
sound. Thus, he measures the time interval between the sight of flash and hearing of sound. Let it
be t seconds. Let the distance between hills A and B be d metre.
• Speed of sound V = Distance (d) / Time(t)
• V = d / t m/s
• Experimentally, it is found that the speed of sound in air is nearly 330 m/s.
SPEED OF SOUND:
• Example : A gun is fired in the air at a distance of 660 m from a
person. He hears the sound of the gun after 2 seconds. Find the
speed of sound.
• Solution :
• d = 660 m
• t=2s
• Speed,V = d / t = 660/2 = 330 m/s
• Thus, the speed of sound in air is 330 m/s
SPEED OF SOUND IN DIFFERENT MEDIA:

Sound travels faster in liquids than in gases. It travels much faster in solids than in liquids and gases.
REFLECTION OF SOUND:
• When sound strikes a hard surface, it returns within the same medium.
• The return of sound after striking a surface is called reflection of sound.
• Laws of reflection of sound:
1. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
2. The incident sound, reflected sound and normal are all in one plane.
For reflection of sound, the surface must be of bigger size. It may be smooth or hard.
Uses of reflection of sound:
Speaking tube(megaphone), sound board and trumpet.
ECHO :
• Echo is the distinct sound heard after reflection from a distant rigid surface
such as a cliff, hillside, wall of a building.
• To hear echo, the sound after reflection from the rigid surface should reach
the ear at least 0.1 s after the original sound is heard because the original
sound persists in the ear for 0.1 s. If the reflected sound reaches the ear
before this interval of time, it will intermingle with the original sound and we
won’t be able to distinguish between the two sounds.
Speed of sound in air = 330 m/s
In 0.1 s, the sound will travel a distance = 330 m/s x 0.1 s = 33 m.
Since sound has to travel an equal distance in going upto the reflecting surface
and in coming back from the reflecting surface, therefore, it must travel 33/2 =
16.5 m either way. Thus to hear echo clearly in air, the reflecting surface should
be at a minimum distance of 16.5 m from the source of sound.
ABSORPTION OF SOUND :
• The substances which absorb sound to a good extent are called good absorbers of
sound.eg. clothes, paper, thermocol, carpets, curtains, furniture etc.
• A sound proof box is an enclosure which does not allow internal sound to come out and
external sound to enter in.
• The following measures are taken to design a sound proof box:
1. The roof of enclosure must be covered by plaster of paris after putting the sheets of
thermocol.
2. The walls of the enclosure should be covered by wooden strips.
3. The floor must be laid down by thick carpets.
4. The machine parts of all the electrical equipments must be placed outside the enclosure.
5. Thick curtains should be used to cover the doors and keep them closed.
6. Thick stripping must be used to cover the openings of doors and windows.
SOLVED EXAMPLES:
C. NUMERICALS
1. A boy fires a gun and another boy at a distance of 1020 m hears the sound of
firing the gun 3 s after seeing its smoke. Find the speed of sound.

Solution :
Distance d = 1020 m, time t = 3 s
Speed of sound,V = d / t = 1020 / 3 m/s = 340 m/s
C. NUMERICALS
2. A boy on a hill A fires a gun. Another boy on hill B hears the sound after 4 s. If the
speed of sound is 330 m/s , find the distance between the two hills.

Solution :
Speed of sound,V = 330 m/s
Time , t = 4 s
Distance, d= V x t = 330 x 4 = 1320 m
Hence, the distance between the two hills is 1320 m.