Hearing Sound

by Denise Carroll
 Science of Sound Test
Sit and review notes for
five minutes
The test will begin shortly!

There will be two short answer

questions to add to your paper
on the Powerpoint.
Short Answer 1
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 to hear sound in

space? Why or why not? Explain your
answers using what we know about sound?
 What do you hear?
 Did you hear something? Maybe the sound
you heard was as quiet as your cat licking
her paws. Or maybe it was loud, like a
siren going by.
 Sounds are everywhere, and you have two
cool parts on your body that let you hear
them all: your ears!
 No matter where we go, sound waves are
all around us.
 Sounds
Close your eyes and listen to these sounds.

Click Click

Click Click

Click Click
 What is sound?
 Sound is a form of energy that can be
heard and travels in waves.
 When matter vibrates or moves back and
forth very quickly, a sound is made.
 Sound waves can travel through solids,
liquids, or gases.
 Example: When a school bell rings,
parts of the bell will vibrate creating
sound.
 How does the ear work?
 Sound waves are sent.
 The outer ear “catches the sound waves”.
 The middle ear takes the sound waves and “vibrates”
the eardrum.
 The inner ear sends the messages to the brain.
Middle Ear

Outer Ear

Sound Waves Inner Ear

 The brain puts it together and hooray! You hear your

favorite song on the radio.
 Sound Travels
 Sound travels in waves.
 Sound must travel through matter to
be heard.
 Remember: Matter can be a solid, a
liquid, or a gas.
 A sound is made when things vibrate.
 Sound travels by sending vibrations
through matter.
 Sound Travels Through Matter
Gases Liquids Solids
Most of the sounds Some sounds that we Some sounds that we
we hear travel hear travel through hear travel through
through gases, such water. solids.
as air.
Sound waves travel a Sound waves travel very
Sound waves travel faster through water fast through solids.
slowly through the than through the air.
air.
For example: When you
hit a drum, it vibrates,
For example: Sound Sonar is the way to then the sound travels
from a bell, a horn, use sounds to locate through the air, to your
or an alarm clock objects under water. ears.
travels through the
air.
What animals use
sonar?
Sound makes the air vibrate.
 For sound to be heard, sound
vibrations must have air or some other
kind of matter to travel through.
 You cannot hear sound in outer space
because there is no air or other
matter to carry sound vibrations.
How do you think astronauts are
able to talk each other in outer
space?
Sound can also be blocked.

THINK:
Why do some people wear ear
coverings?
 Cover your ears!
 Some people who work near loud
machines wear ear coverings.
 The coverings block some of the sound
vibrations from reaching the ears.
 The ear coverings protect your ears
from the noise.
 Have you ever covered your ears?
Why?
 Audiologist
 An audiologist is a person who tests
people’s hearing.
 They use special machines that make
sounds.
 They also help people who do not
hear well.
 Have you had your hearing tested?
How You Make Sounds
 We use our vocal cords to make
sounds in our throat.
 When we speak, our vocal cords
vibrate.
 Place your hand on your throat when
you talk, and you can feel the vocal
cords vibrate.
 Loudness or Volume
 Volume is the loudness or the softness
of a sound.
 Loud sounds use a lot of energy.
 Soft sounds use a little energy.
 Example: The harder a drum is hit,
the more the drum will vibrate . The
more an object vibrates, the louder
the sound it makes.
 Pitch
 Pitch is the highest or lowest sound
an object makes.
 Objects that vibrate slowly, make a
low pitch. Example-drum.
 Objects that vibrate quickly, make a
higher pitch. Example-recorder
 Music
 Music is a combination or sequences of
sounds that people enjoy listening to.
 Musical instruments make different
sounds by plucking the strings.
 The shorter the string, the quicker it
vibrates producing a high sound.
 The longer the string, the slower it
vibrates producing a low sound.
 Let’s Review
 Sound is a kind of energy that can be
heard.
 A sound is made when things vibrate.
 The vibrating object makes the air around
it vibrate.
 Sound vibrations move through the air into
your ears and make the eardrums vibrate.
 Volume is how loud or soft a sound is.
 Pitch is how high or low a sound is.
Sound Energy

Sound travels on a longitudinal wave:

Notice that sound travels in a spiral form

like a slingy
Imagine what happens when you drop a stone into a
pool of water. 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…
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
Stereo air 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!
 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
 Congratulations!

 You have learned how sound

travels.
 Three Cheers for the Ears!
 Resources
 http://images.search.yahoo.com
 http://office.microsoft.com/clipart