PHYSICS

CLASS 9 -- SOUND

Sound-Sound is a form of energy which produces a sensation of hearing in our ears.

Propagation of sound:

Medium: The matter or substance through which sound is transmitted is called a medium.

1.When an object vibrates, it sets the particles of the medium around it vibrating.

2.The particles do not travel all the way from the vibrating object.

3.A particle of the medium in contact with the vibrating object is first displaced from its
equilibrium position.

4.It displaces the adjacent particle with a force.

5.The adjacent particle gets displaced. After displacing the adjacent particles, they come
back to their equilibrium position.

6.This process continues in the medium till the sound reaches our ears.

NOTE

The disturbance(vibrations) produced by the source of sound in the medium travels through the
medium and not the particles of the medium

Sound propagates in a medium in the form of waves. They are characterized by the motion of the
particles in the medium and are called mechanical waves.

Wave: A wave is a disturbance that moves through a medium when the particles of the medium
set neighboring particles into motion.

Sound waves in air:

1.Air is the most common medium through which sound travels.

2.When a vibrating object moves forward, it pushes and compresses the air in front of it
creating a region of high pressure and it is called as compression. (C)

3.When the vibrating object moves backwards, it creates a region of low pressure called
rarefaction. (R).
 5.Thus a series of compressions and rarefactions is created in the air and hence the sound
waves propagate through the medium. (air)

Longitudinal waves:

In these waves the individual particles of the medium move in a direction parallel to

the direction of propagation of the disturbance. A longitudinal wave consists of

compressions and rarefactions.

Longitudinal waves can be produced in all the three media i.e. solids, liquids, gases.

Eg: Sound wave, Waves produced in a slinky.

Transverse waves:

Thus a transverse wave is the one in which the individual particles of the medium move

about their mean positions in a direction perpendicular to the direction of wave

propagation.

Eg. Light waves, radio waves, tidal waves.

Characteristics of a sound wave:

A sound wave can be described completely by five characteristics: Wavelength,

Amplitude, Time-period, Frequency and Velocity or Speed.

1.Wavelength:

It is the distance travelled by the sound wave in one time-period(T).

OR
The distance between two consecutive compressions (C) or two consecutive
rarefactions (R) is called the wavelength.
The S.I unit of wavelength is metre (m). It is denoted by the letter λ.

2.Amplitude

The maximum displacement of the particles of the medium from its mean position is
called amplitude of the wave. The S.I unit of amplitude is metre (m).It is denoted by the
letter A

3.Time-Period:

The time required to produce one complete wave is called time-period of the wave. The
S.I unit of time-period is second(s).It is denoted by the letter (T).
4. Frequency:

The number of vibrations per second is called frequency. The S.I unit of frequency is hertz. It is
denoted by the letter ν

ν =1/T .

5.Velocity or Speed.

The distance travelled by a wave in one second is velocity of the wave. The S.I
unit of velocity of the wave is m/s. It is denoted by the letter v.

Relationship between v, λ, ν:

We know,

Speed = distance / time

i.e. v=λ/T

Here λ is the wavelength of the sound wave and T is the time-period of the wave.

We know,

ν =1/T

i.e v = νλ

That is speed = frequency x wavelength.

Loudness:

The loudness of sound is a measure of the sound energy reaching the ear per second.

The loudness of sound depends on the amplitude of sound waves.

The loudness of sound is measured in decibel (dB).

Soft sound Loud sound

Pitch:

How the brain interprets the frequency of an emitted sound is called its pitch.

The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency of vibration.

Low pitch High pitch.

Quality (or Timbre)

Quality or timbre is that characteristic which enables us to distinguish one sound from
another sound having the same pitch and loudness produced by different musical instruments.
Music:The sound which are pleasant is called music.
Noise: The sounds which are unpleasant is called noise.
A sound of single frequency is called a tone.
The sound which is produced due to a mixture of several frequencies is called a note.

Loudness & Intensity:

Loudness of sound Intensity of sound

The loudness of sound is a measure of The amount of sound energy passing each
the sound energy reaching the ear per
second second through unit area is called the intensity of
sound.

Speed of sound in different media.

The speed of sound depends on the properties of the medium through which it travels.

The speed of sound depends on the temperature of the medium.

In any medium as we increase the temperature the speed of sound increases.

The speed of sound decreases as we go from solid to gaseous state.

Reflection of sound:

Like light, sound gets reflected at the surface of a solid or liquid.

 It also obeys the laws of reflection.

Echo:

The sound heard after reflection from a hard surface is known as echo.

Conditions for Echo to be heard

a. The minimum distance of the obstacle from the source of sound must be 17.2 m. This distance
will change with the temperature of air.

b.To hear a distinct echo the time interval between the original sound and the reflected one must
be at least 0.1 s.

Reverberation.

The repeated reflection that results in the persistence of sound is called reverberation.

To reduce reverberation

The roof and walls of the auditorium are covered with sound-absorbent materials like
compressed fiberboard, rough plaster or draperies.

The seat materials are also selected on the basis of their sound absorbing properties.

Uses of multiple reflection of sound.

1.Megaphones (loudhailers), horns, trumpets, shehanais have a tube followed by a conical

opening which reflects sound towards the audience in a particular direction without spreading in
all directions.

2.Stethoscope: In stethoscopes the sound of the patient’s heartbeat reaches the doctor’s ears by
multiple reflection of sound

3.Soundboard: soundboard may be placed behind the stage so that the sound, after reflecting

from the sound board, spreads evenly across the width of the hall.
4. The ceilings of concert halls, conference halls and cinema halls are curved so that sound after
reflection reaches all corners of the hall

Range of hearing: The audible range of sound frequencies for human beings is 20 Hz to 20,000
Hz.

Infrasonic sound: The sounds of frequencies less than 20Hz are known as “Infrasonic sounds”

Infrasonic sounds cannot be heard by the human beings.Some animals like whales, elephants,
rhinoceroses. produce infrasonic sound.

Ultrasonic sound: The sounds of frequencies more than 20,000 Hz are known as “ultrasonic
sounds”. Ultrasonic sounds cannot be heard by the human beings Children under the age of five
years, can hear ultrasonic sound. Eg. Bats, dolphins, porpoises, rats produce and hear ultrasonic
sound.

Application of ultrasound:

Industrial Field

i.Ultrasound is used in industry for detecting flaws (cracks) in metal blocks without damaging
them. This based on the fact that an internal crack or hole does not allow ultrasound to pass
through it,it reflects the ultrasound

ii. Ultrasound is generally used to clean parts located in hard-to-reach places, for example, spiral
tube, odd shaped parts, electronic components. Objects to be cleaned are placed in a cleaning
solution and ultrasonic waves are sent into the solution. Due to the high frequency, the particles
of dust, grease, and dirt get detached and drop out. Thus it gets cleaned thoroughly.

Medical field.:

(i) Ultrasound waves are used to investigate the organs inside the human body.

(ii) Ultrasonic waves are made to reflect from the various parts of the heart and form images of
the heart .This technique is called echocardiography

(iii)The technique of obtaining pictures of internal organs such as kidney, liver, gall bladder,
pancreas, kidneys, uterus etc. by using ultrasound is called ultrasonography.

Ultrasonography is also used to examine the congenial defects and growth of the foetus during
pregnancy

(iv) Ultrasound may be used to break the kidney stones into fine grains. These grains later get
flushed out with urine.