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Types of Waves, Production and Propagation of Sound Waves

Sound is produced as molecules vibrate and transmit energy in longitudinal waves through a medium. Sound waves are composed of compressions with higher density and pressure alternating with rarefactions of lower density and pressure. Humans can hear sounds between 20-20,000 Hz. The speed of sound depends on the medium's characteristics like temperature, being faster in solids than gases. Sound intensity decreases with distance from the source.

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43 views7 pages

Types of Waves, Production and Propagation of Sound Waves

Sound is produced as molecules vibrate and transmit energy in longitudinal waves through a medium. Sound waves are composed of compressions with higher density and pressure alternating with rarefactions of lower density and pressure. Humans can hear sounds between 20-20,000 Hz. The speed of sound depends on the medium's characteristics like temperature, being faster in solids than gases. Sound intensity decreases with distance from the source.

Uploaded by

Dorego Taofeeq
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TYPES OF WAVES, PRODUCTION AND

PROPAGATION OF SOUND WAVES


Waves can be defined as a disturbance that travls through a medium,
transporting energy from one location (source) to another without
transporting matter.
there are three (3) main types of waves, namely: Mechanical waves
(Longitudinal and transverse waves), Electromagnetic waves and Matter
waves

HOW IS SOUND CREATED?


Sound is produced as molecules of a medium are vibrated. The energy of
the disturbance is carried through the medium in a mechanical wave.

Sound waves are longitudinal waves or compression waves.


• Areas of the wave that have maximum density and pressure are called
compressions.

• Areas of the wave that have minimum density and pressure


are called rarefactions.

• Rarefactions and compressions spread out (propagate) in all


directions from the source of the vibrations. This causes the sound
waves to act like ripple waves on a pond.
• The Frequency of a sound wave is defined as the number of cycles per unit of
time. (Usually the units are Hertz – Cycles per second).

• Humans can hear sound waves between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. These are
called audible sound waves.

• The frequency of an audible sound wave, which determines how high or low a
sound is perceived, is known as the pitch.

• As the frequency of the sound wave increases, the pitch rises.

• The speed of sound depends on the characteristics of the medium, such as


temperature, or whether the medium is a solid, liquid or gas.
• Sound usually travels faster in a solid than a gas because particles are
closer together and can transfer motion more quickly.

• The characteristics of the medium, therefore, determines the velocity of


the sound wave through that medium

• The speed of sound is 331.3 meters per second (1,087 feet per second)
in dry air at 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). At a temperature
like 28 degrees C (82 degrees F), the speed is 346 meters per second.

• The speed changes depending on the temperature and the humidity


SOUND INTENSITY
• The rate at which energy is transferred through a unit area, perpendicular to
the direction of the sound wave motion is the intensity of the sound wave.

• The intensity of the sound wave decreases as the distance from the sound
source increases.

• The range of human hearing depends on both the frequency and the
intensity of the sound waves.

• Sounds at high or low frequencies must be relatively intense to be heard,


whereas sounds in the middle of the spectrum are audible at lower
intensities.
• Exposure to sounds above the threshold of pain can cause immediate
damage to the ear, even if no pain is felt.

• Prolonged exposures to sounds of lower intensities can also damage the ear.

• The threshold of hearing and the threshold of pain merge at both high and low
ends of the spectrum.

• A decibel is a dimensionless unit that describes the ratio of two intensities of


sound.

• The threshold of hearing is commonly used as the reference intensity.

• Resonance - when one object, vibrating at the same natural frequency of a


second object, forces that second object into vibrational motion.

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