Sound Energy

Sound Energy
Sound travels on a longitudinal wave:
Notice that sound travels in a spiral form like a slingy

Longitudinal Waves
In longitudinal waves, the vibrations are along the same direction of wave
travel.
Examples :
• sound waves
• ultrasound waves
• seismic P-waves
Imagine what happens when you drop a stone into a
pool of wate. Waves ripple out from the spot where
the stone entered the water. The way waves move
across the water is similar to how sound waves
travel through the air.
When you speak or shout, your vocal chords vibrate .
These vibrations travel in all directions through the
air as waves. When the waves reach our ears, they
make our eardrums vibrate too, so we can hear the
words.
Sound waves travel on a MEDIUM:
Any SOLID, LIQUID OR GAS
Sound travels by pushing the particles of a substance.

The particles push into the particles next to them, and
then return to their original position. And the sound
continues to travel in this form until it reaches your
ear!
Which state of substance would
sound travel through faster?
WHY?
All right, let’s practice what we’ve learned so
far…
It’s time to let your partner ear it!!
Plus, domino affect

Mediums:
• Sound travels through a solid faster, than through a liquid, which is faster, than through a gas.
– Our ears are custom to hear sound through a gas…
Depends on the physical properties of the medium it travels through
Elasticity
Density
Temperature
At room temperature, sound travel through air at about 342 m/s
Physical Properties of Media
Density - how much matter there is in a given amount of space.
The speed of sound depends on how close together the particles of the
substance are in the medium.
Elasticity - The ability of a material to bounce back after being disturbed
Solid materials are usually more elastic than liquids or gases.Particles of

a solid do not move very far, so they bounce back and forth quickly as the
vibration travels through the object, which allows waves to move faster.
Temperature - Degree or intensity of heat present in a substance or object.
In a given media (solid, liquid, or gas), sound travels more slowly at lower
temperatures.
In movies and on TV, you'll sometimes see and hear
things exploding in outer space -- alien spacecraft
and things like that.
Is that really possible knowing what we
know about sound? 

In
outer space there are no molecules to
compress or rarefy, so sound does not travel
through outer space.
Compressions and Rarefractions:
Compressions: area of sound waves where
molecules are closer together (E)
Rarefraction: area of sound where
molecules are further apart (B)
Wavelength:
Wavelength: distance from end of
compression to the end of the next
compression (A)
Air
molecule
Rarefaction (decreased air

Stereo density)
Speaker
Compression (increased air

density)
wavelength
Frequency:
Frequency: the number of waves produced
per second (C)
Two other properties that affect sound
energy:
1.Pitch
2.Intensity
PITCH
Pitch is the rate at which the vibrations
are produced.
The higher the frequency, the higher the
pitch.
Which picture above would have the lowest pitch? Highest pitch?
The more waves per second (or
the higher the frequency), the
higher the pitch!
Properties of Sound Waves
Intensity - The amount of energy the wave carries
per second through a unit of area.
Amplitude increases with increased energy.
Measured in watts per square meter (W/m2)
Loudness - describes what you actually hear.

Though not the same as loudness, the greater the
intensity of the wave, the louder it is.
Measured in decibels (dB)
Maximum safe level is 85 dB
Frequency - the number of vibrations that occur per second
Wavelength changes with frequency
Measured in Hertz (Hz)
50Hz = 50 vibrations per second.
Pitch - a description of how high or how the sound seems to a person
High frequency = high pitch
Low frequency = low pitch

UCSD: Physics 8; 2006
Example Sound Speeds
Medium sound speed (m/s)

air (20C) 343
water 1497
gold 3240
brick 3650
wood 3800–4600
glass 5100
steel 5790
aluminum 6420
Spring 2006 http://hypertextbook.com/physics/waves/sound/ 20

How we hear.
 The eardrum vibrates when sound enters the ear.
 The vibrations then transfer to the inner ear.
 The vibrations are transformed into electrical signals which pass to the
brain.
Ultrasound
 Some animals hear sounds at different frequencies to humans
Eg. Dogs, bats and dolphins hear higher frequencies
whales, frogs and elephants hear lower frequencies
 Extremely high frequency sound is called ultrasound and this can be
used in hospitals (above 20,000Hz)
 We detect high frequencies by the first set of hairs on the cochlea, and
these get damaged easily therefore older people cannot hear high sounds
Ultrasound
 Ultrasound is extremely high frequency sound.
 It is used by doctors to make an image of a person’s internal structures. Eg
during pregnancy
It can also be used to treat muscle damage
 Ultrasound is also useful in industry – it can be used to remove dirt from
small objects like jewellery

Echolocation
 Some animals (bats or dolphins) use sound waves in a special technique

called echolocation.
 These animals cannot see very well so send out ultrasonic sound waves
and detect the echo.
 They can tell from the echo how close they are to a solid structure and
so can avoid it.
 They can also catch their prey by detecting the sound wave reflected
from it.
Intensity
Intensity depends on the strength, or
amplitude, of the vibrations producing the
sound.
If a piano string is struck forcefully the string swings
back and forth in a wider arc. The stronger
vibration then produces a louder tone since
stronger vibrations compress the molecules of the
air more forcefully and gives them greater energy,
which is interpreted by our ears as a louder sound.
So in conclusion:
Sound energy travels on a ___________________ wave. Sound
travels through a ____________. Sound travels better through a
_____________ medium, than a ______________ medium.
A sound wave is made up of two parts; compressions and
rarefractions. The _______________ represent areas where the
molecules are closer together. Where as, a ___________________
is where the molecules are further apart.
The distance from the end of one compression to the beginning of the
next compression is called the ______________________. The
more waves per second the ____________ the frequency. The
greater the frequency the __________ the pitch.
The more force put into the pulse (which starts the sound) the greater
the __________________ of the sound. Therefore, the sound will
be louder.
1. A teacher attaches a slinky to the wall and begins
introducing pulses with different amplitudes. Which of
the two pulses (A or B) below will travel from the hand
to the wall in the least amount of time? Justify your
answer.
They reach the wall at the same time

2. The teacher then begins introducing pulses with a
different wavelength. Which of the two pulses (C or D)
will travel from the hand to the wall in the least amount
of time ? Justify your answer.
They reach the wall at the same time.

3. Doubling the frequency of a wave
source doubles the speed of the waves.
TRUE or FALSE:
FALSE!
The speed of a wave is unaffected by changes in the
frequency. It is affected by the medium!
3. Two waves are traveling through the same container of
nitrogen gas. Wave A has a wavelength of 1.5 m. Wave
B has a wavelength of 4.5 m. The speed of wave B must
be ________ the speed of wave A.
a. one-ninth
b. one-third
c. the same as
d. three times larger than
Answer: C
4. Why do we hear this when a jet flies past
us?
•The closer the jet is to our ears, the closer the
wavelengths. Therefore, we hear a higher pitch when the

jet is closer, and a lower pitch as it moves further away.
Also, the closer the jet the more intensity; therefore it

seems louder to our ears.
5. Label the three pictures below with the following:
a. highest pitch (HP)
b. middle pitch (MP)
c. lowest pitch (LP)
LP MP HP

Sound Energy

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Sound Energy

Sound travels on a longitudinal wave:

Notice that sound travels in a spiral form like a slingy

Sound travels by pushing the particles of a substance.

It’s time to let your partner ear it!!

Plus, domino affect

Solid materials are usually more elastic than liquids or gases.Particles of

Is that really possible knowing what we

know about sound? 

Rarefaction (decreased air

Compression (increased air

Loudness - describes what you actually hear.

Wavelength changes with frequency

Measured in Hertz (Hz)

50Hz = 50 vibrations per second.

Pitch - a description of how high or how the sound seems to a person

High frequency = high pitch

Low frequency = low pitch

Example Sound Speeds

Medium sound speed (m/s)

Spring 2006 http://hypertextbook.com/physics/waves/sound/ 20

 The eardrum vibrates when sound enters the ear.

 The vibrations then transfer to the inner ear.

Eg. Dogs, bats and dolphins hear higher frequencies

whales, frogs and elephants hear lower frequencies

 Extremely high frequency sound is called ultrasound and this can be

used in hospitals (above 20,000Hz)

 Ultrasound is extremely high frequency sound.

 It is used by doctors to make an image of a person’s internal structures. Eg

It can also be used to treat muscle damage

 Ultrasound is also useful in industry – it can be used to remove dirt from

small objects like jewellery

 Some animals (bats or dolphins) use sound waves in a special technique

They reach the wall at the same time

They reach the wall at the same time.

•The closer the jet is to our ears, the closer the

wavelengths. Therefore, we hear a higher pitch when the

Also, the closer the jet the more intensity; therefore it

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