What Is Sound?

A sound is a vibration that propagates through a medium in the form of a mechanical wave.
The medium in which it propagates can either be a solid, a liquid or a gas. Sound travels
fastest in solids, relatively slower in liquids and slowest in gases.

In physics, the sound is defined as

A vibration that propagates as an audible wave of pressure, through a medium such as a gas,
liquid or solid.

What is a Soundwave?
A sound wave is the pattern of disturbance caused by the energy travelling away from the
source of the sound. Sound waves are longitudinal waves. This means that the propagation
of vibration of particles is parallel to the energy wave propagation direction. When the atoms
are set in vibration they move back and forth. This continuous back and forth motion results
in a high-pressure and a low-pressure region in the medium. These high- pressure and low-
pressure regions are termed compressions and rarefactions, respectively. These regions are
transported to the surrounding medium resulting in the sound waves travelling from one
medium to another.

How is Sound Produced?

Sound is produced when an object vibrates, creating a pressure wave. This pressure wave
causes particles in the surrounding medium (air, water, or solid) to have vibrational motion.
As the particles vibrate, they move nearby particles, transmitting the sound further through
the medium. The human ear detects sound waves when vibrating air particles vibrate small
parts within the ear.

In many ways, sound waves are similar to light waves. They both originate from a definite
source and can be distributed or scattered using various means. Unlike light, sound waves
can only travel through a medium, such as air, glass, or metal. This means there’s no sound
in space!
Nature Of Sound
The sound produced by a guitar is different from the sound produced by a drum. This is
because the sound produced by different sources have different characteristics. Sound can
be characterized by its frequency, wavelength, and amplitude.

• Frequency of sound
The number of rarefactions and compressions that occur per unit time is known as the
frequency of a sound wave. F= 1/T

Where,

• f is the frequency of a sound wave and

• T is the time period.

• Wavelength of sound
The distance between the successive compression and rarefaction is known as the
wavelength of a sound wave.

λ = v/f
Where, f is the frequency of the sound wave and v is the velocity of the sound wave.
Types of Sound
There are many different types of sound including, audible, inaudible, unpleasant, pleasant,
soft, loud, noise and music. You’re likely to find the sounds produced by a piano player soft,
audible, and musical. And while the sound of road construction early on Saturday morning is
also audible, it certainly isn’t pleasant or soft. Other sounds, such as a dog whistle, are
inaudible to the human ear. This is because dog whistles produce sound waves that are below
the human hearing range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Waves below 20 Hz are called infrasonic
waves (infrasound), while higher frequencies above 20,000 Hz are known as ultrasonic waves
(ultrasound).

Infrasonic Waves (Infrasound)

Infrasonic waves have frequencies below 20 Hz, which makes them inaudible to the human
ear. Scientists use infrasound to detect earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, to map rock and
petroleum formations underground, and to study activity in the human heart. Despite our
inability to hear infrasound, many animals use infrasonic waves to communicate in nature.
Whales, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, elephants, and alligators all use infrasound to communicate
across impressive distances – sometimes hundreds of miles!
Ultrasonic Waves (Ultrasound)
Sound waves that have frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz produce ultrasound. Because
ultrasound occurs at frequencies outside the human hearing range, it is inaudible to the
human ear. Ultrasound is most often used by medical specialists who use sonograms to
examine their patients’ internal organs. Some lesser-known applications of ultrasound
include navigation, imaging, sample mixing, communication, and testing. In nature, bats emit
ultrasonic waves to locate prey and avoid obstacles.

Amplitude of sound
The amplitude of the sound is the magnitude of the maximum disturbance in a sound wave.
The amplitude is also a measure of energy. Higher the amplitude higher the energy in a sound
wave. Humans can hear a limited range of frequencies of sound. Physicists have identified
the audio frequency spectrum of the human ear to be between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. Under
ideal laboratory conditions, the human ear can detect frequencies that are as low as 12 Hz
and as high as 20,000 Hz.
Speed of Sound
The speed at which sound waves propagate through a medium is known as the speed of
sound. The speed of sound is different in different media. The speed of sound is highest in
solids because the atoms in solid are highly compressed. The interaction between atoms in a
particle is highly dependent on the distance between them. Higher the interaction between
the atoms, the quicker the energy is transferred. As the interaction of the particles in solids
is high, the speed of sound is faster than liquids and gases. The table below lists the speed of
sound in different media.

S = D/T

Where,

• d is the distance traveled by sound

• t is the time taken to cover the distance.

Medium Speed of sound

Water 1481 m/s

Air 343.2 m/s

Copper 4600 m/s

Hydrogen 1270 m/s

Glass 4540 m/s

4 Properties of Sound
What makes music different from noise? A bird’s call is more melodic than a car alarm. And,
we can usually tell the difference between ambulance and police sirens - but how do we do
this? We use the four properties of sound: pitch, dynamics (loudness or softness), timbre
(tone color), and duration.

Frequency (Pitch)
Pitch is the quality that enables us to judge sounds as being “higher” and “lower. It provides
a method for organizing sounds based on a frequency-based scale. Pitch can be interpreted
as the musical term for frequency, though they are not exactly the same. A high-pitched
sound causes molecules to rapidly oscillate, while a low-pitched sound causes slower
oscillation. Pitch can only be determined when a sound has a frequency that is clear and
consistent enough to differentiate it from noise. Because pitch is primarily based on a
listener’s perception, it is not an objective physical property of sound.

Amplitude (Dynamics)
The amplitude of a sound wave determines it relative loudness. In music, the loudness of a
note is called its dynamic level. In physics, we measure the amplitude of sound waves in
decibels (dB), which do not correspond with dynamic levels. Higher amplitudes correspond
with louder sounds, while shorter amplitudes correspond with quieter sounds. Despite this,
studies have shown that humans perceive sounds at very low and very high frequencies to
be softer than sounds in the middle frequencies, even when they have the same amplitude.

Timbre (Tone Color)

Timbre refers to the tone color, or “feel” of the sound. Sounds with various timbres produce
different wave shapes, which affect our interpretation of the sound. The sound produced by
a piano has a different tone color than the sound from a guitar. In physics, we refer to this as
the timbre of a sound. It’s what allows humans to quickly identify sounds (e.g. a cat’s meow,
running water, the sound of a friend’s voice).

Duration (Tempo/Rhythm)
In music, duration is the amount of time that a pitch, or tone, lasts. They can be described as
long, short, or as taking some amount of time. The duration of a note or tone influences the
timbre and rhythm of a sound. A classical piano piece will tend to have notes with a longer
duration than the notes played by a keyboardist at a pop concert. In physics, the duration of
a sound or tone begins once the sound registers and ends after it cannot be detected.
What Makes Sound Music or Noise?
Acousticians, or scientists who study sound acoustics, have studied how different sound
types, primarily noise and music, affect humans. Randomized, unpleasant sound waves are
often referred to as noise. Alternatively, constructed patterns of sound waves are known as
music. Studies have shown that the human body responds differently to noise and music,
which may explain why road construction on a Saturday morning makes us more tense than
a pianist’s song.

Amplitude: The amount of energy in an electromagnetic wave is referred to as the amplitude

of light. The maximum vertical displacement of the wave from its mean point is referred to as
amplitude. The higher the energy, the greater the amplitude. The S.I unit of measurement of
amplitude is meters (m) though sometimes it is also measured in centimeters.

Wavelength: The wavelength is the shortest distance over which a sound wave will repeat
itself. In other words, the duration of a single full-wave is called the wavelength. A Greek
letter is used to represent it, λ (lambda). The meter is the SI unit for measuring wavelength
(m).

Frequency: The time taken to create a single full-wave, cycle, or cycle is referred to as the
wave’s time period. One maximum pulse of the vibrating body now produces one total
wave. As a result, the time it takes to complete one vibration is referred to as the time
period. The letter T stands for it. The second (s) is the unit of the time period.
Time-period: The frequency of a wave is defined as the number of full waves or cycles
generated in one second. The number of waves per second is called frequency since one
total wave is generated by one maximum pulse of the vibrating body. Hertz, or Hz, is the SI
unit of frequency. The frequency of a vibrating body emitting one wave per second is 1
hertz. In other words, 1 Hz equals 1 pulse per second.

Loudness of the Sound

The amount of energy exerted in producing a sound that can be
measured by the reaching ear is called the loudness of a sound.

Source Amount of Loudness

Normal breathing 10 dB

Factory 80 dB

Mellow whisper (at 5 m) 30 dB

 Basic conversation 60 dB

High traffic 70 dB

Pitch of the Sound

Pitch defines the quality of a sound by determining its frequency
scale.

• This is determined by the magnitude of the waves’ vibrations.

• The sound is shrill and has a sharp pitch if the frequency of vibration is
greater.
• When a sound is said to have a lower pitch, it means it vibrates at a
lower frequency. A bird makes a high-pitched sound, while a lion’s
scream is low-pitched.
• Human ears can hear sounds from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
 Loudness Pitch
This phenomenon of sound depends on the If the frequency of vibration is higher, we say that the
amplitude of the sound wave. If the amplitude sound is shrill and has a high pitch. On the other hand, if
of the sound wave is large, then the sound is the sound is said to have a lower pitch then it has a lower
said to be loud. frequency of vibration.
Loudness is defined as the property of sound
Pitch is defined as the characteristic of sound which is
which is used for differentiating between the
used for differentiating between the shrill and flat sound.
loud and faint sound.
Loudness is dependent on the energy received Pitch is independent of the energy received by the ear in
by the ear in unit time. unit time.
Loudness is independent of the change in Pitch is dependent on the change in the frequency. As the
frequency. frequency increases, the shrillness of the sound increases.
It is expressed in decibel (dB). It is expressed in Hertz (Hz).
Ex : Sound of the footstep has very low
Ex : Bird produces high pitched sound whereas roaring of
amplitude while loudspeaker has high
a lion is a low-pitched
amplitude.