vibrating particle. It propagates in the form of waves in all possible directions.
When these sound waves touch the ear
drum about 1/10th of a second, then the sensation of hearing will be stimulated. WAVE MOTION : A wave is a disturbance created at a place in a medium which travels in all possible directions of the medium. WAVE S MECHANICA ELECTRO L WAVES MAGNETIC WAVES
PROGRESSIVE STATIONAR WAVES Y WAVES
Longitudinal Waves
Transverse Waves Longitudinal wave: If the direction of vibration of the particles of the medium is parallel to the direction of wave motion, such a wave is called a 'longitudinal wave’.
These waves travel in the form of
Compressions and Rarefactions. Transverse wave: If the direction of vibration of the particles of the medium is perpendicular to the direction of wave motion, such a wave is called a ‘transverse wave’.
These waves travel in the form of
Crests and Troughs. Terms related to Wave motion:
Crest Trough Amplitude Wavelength Time period Infrasonic Waves : The longitudinal mechanical waves having frequencies less than 20 Hz are called Infrasonic.
Audible or Sound Waves : The
longitudinal mechanical waves which lie in the frequency range 20 Hz to 20000 Hz are called audible or sound waves.
Ultrasonic Waves : The longitudinal
mechanical waves having frequencies greater than 20000 Hz are called ultrasonics. Applications:
To eradicate the bacteria in the milk
and water. It is also called as pasteurization of milk.
In the working of SONAR (Sound
Navigation and Ranging) to determine the depth of submarine or an iceberg present in the sea. In the treatment of arthritis (knee pain).
To crush the stones into powder formed in
the kidney
For removing lamp shoot from the
chimneys of factories.
To examine foetus during pregnancy to
detect any abnormalities. Sound is characterized by three parameters : (i) Pitch (ii) Loudness (iii) Quality Loudness : Loudness of a sound wave is the sensation that depends upon its amplitude. The loudness of sound is directly proportional to the square of the amplitude of sound wave. I α a2 Intensity of sound is measured with sound meter or noise meter.
Intensity of the sound is
independent of frequency.
The loudness of sound is measured in
‘decibel dB’.
Another unit of loudness is phon
Pitch : Pitch is the characteristic which distinguishes a shrill (or sharp) sound from a flat or grave sound.
•Pitch of the sound depends on
frequency of the sound wave.
•When the frequency increases, the
pitch of the sound also increases. It is independent of amplitude of the sound wave.
In the sound notes of a male and roaring of a
lion the frequency is less. Hence these sounds are highly intensive or loud.
•In the sound notes of female , children,
mosquitoes the and frequency is more. Hence the sound notes are shrill in nature. Quality (Timber) : The ability of the eardrum to recognize different sound waves coming from different sources simultaneously is called as Quality or Timber.
•A sound of single frequency is
called a tone. •The sound produced due to a mixture of several frequencies is called a note. Echo: Phenomenon of hearing back our own sound is called an echo. It is due to successive reflection from the surface of obstacles of large size.
•The minimum distance between the
source of sound and the reflecting body should be 17.2m The wavelength of sound should be less than the height of the reflecting body.
To hear an distinct echo, the
time interval between the original sound and the reflected sound must be 0.1s Applications of Echoes:
Echoes are used in SONAR to determine
the depth of water by transmitting sound waves into water. Dolphins detect their enemy and obstacles by emitting the ultrasonic waves and hearing their echoes. Stethoscope, Megaphone, Hydrophone, Fathometer work on the principle of echo. Beats : When two sound waves of equal amplitudes and nearly equal frequencies are produced simultaneously then the intensity of resultant sound wave increases and decreases with time. This change in the intensity of sound is called phenomenon of beats.
Resultant frequency is equal to the
difference in frequencies of two sound sources. •The phenomenon of beats is useful in tuning two vibrating bodies in unison.
•The frequency of an unknown tuning
fork can be found using beats.
•Beats used to detect dangerous gases
in mines. Resonance : When two bodies of same natural frequencies are taken, and if one body is set into vibrate then the second body begins to vibrate with maximum intensity of the sound. This phenomenon is called as Resonance.
•In the resonance phenomenon the
frequency of the two vibrating bodies should be equal. Applications:
The soldiers are asked to halt their march fast
when they approach a bridge to avoid collapse of the bridge due to resonance.
The working of flute, whistle and radio are based
on the property of resonance.
If the frequency of the voice is equals to the
frequency of a glass plate then it breaks into pieces due to resonance.
If a vehicle (car, bus etc) exceeds certain limit of
speed then rattling sound is heard due to resonance only. Reverberation: Persistence of sound after its production stopped, is called reverberation.
Reverberation is caused when a series
of echoes are heard due to more than one reflecting surface.
A short reverberation is desirable in a
concert hall because it gives ‘life’ to sound. Refraction of Sound :When successive layers of air have different temperatures, the ability of sound to travel faster in warm air than in cold air causes bending of sound. This bending of sound is called refraction. On a warm day, the air near the ground is warmer than the air above and so the speed of sound waves near the ground is higher. This causes bending of the sound away from the ground.
On a cold day or at night, the reverse
happens and the sound waves bend towards the earth. Thus on a cold day sounds can be heard over longer distances. VELOCITY OF SOUND: Velocity of sound is different in different mediums.
•In a medium, the velocity of sound
basically depends upon elasticity and density of medium.
•Velocity of sound is maximum in
solids and minimum in gases. When sound enters from one medium to another medium, its velocity, time period, amplitude and wavelength changes but frequency remains unchanged.
In a medium, the velocity of
sound is independent of frequency. Effect of the pressure: The velocity of the sound is independent of pressure of the air.
The variation of the pressure of the air
doesn't affect the velocity of the sound propagating through it.
•The velocity of sound in hilly areas,
coastal areas and plains will be the same. Effect of the temperature : The velocity of the sound is directly proportional to square- root of Temperature. V α √ T
For every 1° rise of the temperature the
velocity of the sound increases by 0.61 m/sec.
The velocity of sound is more in summer as
the temperature is high. Effect of the density: The velocity of the sound is inversely proportional to the square root of the density of gas based on 𝜸𝑷 the Newton’s - Laplace equation V = . 𝒅
The density of the gas varies from one gas
to another. So, the velocity of the sound also changes from one gas to another. •The velocity of the sound is more in Hydrogen i.e. 1230 m/sec because the density of this gas is very small.
• Air has more density. Hence the
velocity of the sound in the air is 330 m/sec. Effect of the Humidity: As the humidity increases, the density of air decreases.
The velocity of sound is more in the rainy
season due to less density of the air.
At same temperature, the velocity of the
sound is more in rainy day than summer because the density of air is less on a rainy day than a summer day. SUPERSONIC VELOCITY : If the velocity of the object is more than the velocity of the sound then it is called supersonic velocity.
•Jet planes, rockets, missiles,
warships…move with supersonic velocity. •Supersonic velocity is measured in terms of Mach number.
Mach no. = When the Jet planes fly off with supersonic velocity then they produce highly energetic Shock waves.
The tremendous air pressure variations caused
by Shock waves produce a loud burst of sound called Sonic Boom.
The warships produce Bow waves when they
move with supersonic velocity. Subsonic velocity : If the velocity of the object is lesser than the velocity of sound. Mach number lesser than one (<1)
Sonic velocity : If velocity of the object is equals to
velocity of the sound. Mach number is equals to unity (1) Supersonic velocity: If the velocity of object is 1 to 5 times of the velocity of the sound. Mach number varies from 1 to 5.
Hypersonic velocity: If the velocity of the
object lies between 5 to 10 times of velocity of the sound. Mach number lies between 5 to 10. DOPPLER'S EFFECT :The apparent frequency of the sound received by observer due to the relative motion between the observer and source of the sound. •Doppler's effect can be applied to sound, light and in the case of all types of waves. Applications : In the working of the SONAR, Doppler effect is used.
The RADAR which is used to find the altitude,
direction of motion and velocity of a flying object also works on the principle of Doppler's effect.
The laser speed gun which is used to
determine the speed of the vehicle at a point are also based on Doppler's effect. To find the defect in the blood circulation of the human being. This method is known as Doppler color photo.
To determine the track, orbit and range of
an artificial satellite moving around the earth.
To study the colored rings of Saturn
planet To study the binary stars or double stars. SOUND POLLUTION : According to world health organization (WHO), if a person is subjected to the sound of intensity 85 dB or more continuously about 8 hours per day then it is called as sound or noise pollution.
If the intensity of sound exceed
120dB,then it causes pain on the eardrum. Name of the instance Intensity of the sound (dB)
1) Moving of grass 0 (cannot be heard)
2) While murmuring 20-30
3) In normal conversation 40-60
4) Pendulum of the wall clock 30
5) From the traffic 70-75
6) From rock music 120 7) From Jet planes, aero planes, 100-200 rockets 1. The minimum distance between two particles in similar phase is 10cm. The minimum time after which a given particle comes to same phase is 0.1sec. What is the velocity of progressive wave? 2. A compression wave of frequency 250 per sec is setup in an iron rod and passes from the rod into air. The speed of the wave is 5000 m/sec in Iron and 350 m/sec in air. What is the wavelength in each? 3. The sound produced by a tuning fork has a wavelength of 1.4m in air. What would be its wavelength in water? 4. At what temperature the velocity of sound in a gas would have a value twice as much at 27⁰ C? 3. Three tuning forks produce sounds of wavelength 1m, 2m and 3m respectively in air at the same temperature. What is the ratio of their frequencies? 6. A person sets his watch by the sound of siren at a distance of 1km. How many seconds is his watch slower? 7. A person standing in front of a hill produces a sound and hears an echo after 1sec. What is the distance between the person and the hill? 8. A person standing at some distance from a cliff hears the echo of sound after 3sec. He walks 170m away from the cliff and observes that echo is heard after 4sec. What is the speed of sound?
