PROPAGATION

OF
SOUND WAVES
 Production and Propagation of sound wave

o Sound is a form of energy that produces the sensation of hearing in our ears
o Sound is produced by vibrations
o No vibration no sound
o Vibration is to and fro motion of a particle about its mean position

Figure: A Vibrating rubber string produces sound Figure: A Vibrating wire produces sound
Figure: A Vibrating tuning fork produces sound Figure: A Vibrating drum produces sound

Figure: A Vibrating string in sitar produces sound

 Characteristics of sound waves

o Sound propagation requires a material medium to

travel

The medium must be elastic

The medium must have inertia
The medium should be frictionless

o The sound can propagate not only in gases, but also in

solids and liquids

o Sound cannot travel in vacuum

Figure: Sound requires medium (bell jar experiment)
o Light can travel in vacuum
 Figure: Speed of sound in different mediums

Ques. Speed of sound is maximum in solids, liquids or gases? State reason also.
 Production and Propagation of sound wave

o Sound waves are mechanical pressure waves which

propagate through a medium by compression and
rarefaction of particles
o The region of high pressure is called compression (C)
and region of low pressure is called rarefaction (R)
o The sound travels in air in the form of longitudinal
waves
Figure: Propagation of disturbance in air
Sound waves are mechanical
waves. Based on direction of
propagation of a wave and the
displacement of particles of
the medium, waves are
classified into two groups:
• Longitudinal waves
• Transverse waves
A stone is dropped from a 50 m tall building into a pond. When is sound of splash heard at
the top? (g=10m/s2 , speed of sound in air= 340m/s)?
Question [Link] one hertz?
Question [Link] frequency range of a human ear is 20 hertz to 20000hertz. Express it in
Characteristics of wave motion
terms of time period?
Question [Link] the relationship between wavelength, frequency and speed of sound?
Question [Link] wavelength?
PROPAGATION
Question [Link] a graph showing density and pressure variations with respect to distance
o Waves can be broadly described as either “
for a disturbance produced by sound wave? Mark the position of OF
rarefaction on this curve/graph. Name the regions of maximum
compression and
andWAVES
minimum change in
SOUND
Transverse’’ or “Longitudinal”
pressure respectively?
Question 7. Which characteristic of the sound helps you to identify your friend by his voice
while sitting with others in a darkroom?
o Waves transfer energy from one location to
Question [Link] with the help of bell jar experiment that sound cannot travel in vaccum?
Propagation of Sound Waves
Question [Link] is a transverse wave?

another
Question 10. A radar signal is received 2*10-5 sec. After it was sent and reflected by an
aeroplane. How far is the aeroplane if speed of waves is 3*108 m/s?

o A wave is produced by the periodic disturbance

at a point in the medium
o Particles vibrate about their mean position and Figure: Ripples formed on the surface
energy is transferred with constant speed from of water on dropping a piece of stone
one place to other place in it

Figure: Propagation of disturbance on

the surface of water
Question: When sound waves travels in a medium, do the particles
of medium and the disturbance both moves ahead?
Displacement – Distance graph

• [Link]
Displacement – Time graph
[Link]
o Amplitude of wave (a): Maximum displacement of the
particle of medium on either side of its mean position
S.I Unit: metre (m)

o Time Period (T): The time taken by particle of medium to

complete its one vibration
S.I Unit: s

o Frequency (f): The number of vibrations made by particle of

medium in one second
S.I Unit: Hertz (Hz) or second-1 (s-1)
Figure: Displacement- distance graph of a particle of a wave

o Wavelength (λ): The distance travelled by wave in one time

period of vibration of particle of the medium.
S.I Unit: metre (m)

o Wave Velocity (V): The distance travelled by a wave in one

second; It is the speed with which energy is transferred from
one place to another place by wave motion
S.I Unit: metre per second (ms-1) Figure: Displacement- time graph of a particle of a wave
Relationship between wavelength, wave velocity and frequency

Or

But

V=fλ

𝑾𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 = 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝑿 𝑾𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉

 Speed of sound in different media
Speed of sound depends on following two factors:
(i) The elasticity E of the medium, and
(ii) The density ρ of the medium

Speed of sound in gases:

For isothermal change, modulus of elasticity is equal to pressure i.e.

Newton’s Formula
Theoretical value of V at N.T.P is 279.5 ms-1
Experimental value of V is 330 ms-1

There is a mismatch between theoretical value and experimental value.

 o Propagation of sound is an adiabatic change

o For an adiabatic change

is the ratio of specific heat of gas at constant pressure to

specific heat at constant volume ( =)

So speed of sound is given as:

Value of depends upon nature of medium.

In this case, V comes out to be nearly 330.7 ms-1 which agrees

with the experimental value

Speed of sound is different in different media

e.g. Speed of sound in steel is more than that in air
 Factors affecting the speed of sound in gas
Effect of density :

Effect of temperature:

where T is the temperature of gas on the Kelvin scale

Effect of humidity: Speed of sound increases with increase in humidity

Effect of direction of wind: Speed of sound increases or decreases according to direction of travel of
wind.
Increases, if wind blows in direction of propagation of sound; speed of sound becomes V+W
Decreases, if wind blows in direction opposite to propagation of sound; speed of sound becomes V-W
W is speed of wind, V is speed of sound
 Factors not affecting the speed of sound in gas

Effect of pressure:

𝑉=
√ 𝛾𝑃
ρ
The ratio with change in pressure
Effect of amplitude of wave: V is independent of amplitude of sound wave

Effect of wavelength (or frequency ) of sound wave: V is independent of wavelength and

frequency of sound wave
The sound waves differ from the EM waves.
What type of waves do musical instruments emit, and how are
they propagated?
Musical instruments create sound waves, which are vibrations of
the molecules of the medium, which is usually air. These waves
are examples of longitudinal waves.
What is unique about the waves produced by a stone that is
dropped into water?
When a stone is dropped into water, both transverse and
longitudinal waves are produced because the water molecules
move both perpendicular and parallel to the direction of the
waves. In addition, their movements are circular.
Young's modulus is a measure of the ability
of a material to withstand changes in length
when under lengthwise tension or
compression. Sometimes referred to as
the modulus of elasticity, Young's
modulus is equal to the longitudinal stress
divided by the strain.
Longitudinal Waves and Guitar Strings
A sound wave is produced by a vibrating object. As a guitar string vibrates,
it sets surrounding air molecules into vibrational motion. The frequency at which these air molecules vibrate is equal to
the frequency of vibration of the guitar string.
The back and forth vibrations of the surrounding air molecules creates a pressure wave which travels outward from its source.
This pressure wave consists of compressions and rarefactions.
The compressions are regions of high pressure, where the air molecules are compressed into a small region of space.
The rarefactions are regions of low pressure, where the air molecules are spread apart.
This alternating pattern of compressions and rarefactions is known as a sound wave.

In solids, sound can exist as either a longitudinal or a transverse wave.

But in mediums which are fluid (e.g., gases and liquids), sound waves can only be longitudinal.
The animation above depicts a sound wave as a longitudinal wave.
In a longitudinal wave, particles of the medium vibrate back and forth in a direction which is parallel
(and anti-parallel) to the direction of energy transport. In the animation above, the energy is shown traveling outward from the
guitar string - from left to right.
A careful inspection of the particles of the medium (represented by lines) in the animation above reveal that the particles of the medium
are displaced rightward and then move back leftward to their original position. There is no net displacement of the air molecules.
The molecules of air are only temporarily disturbed from their rest position; they always return to their original position.
In this sense, a sound wave (like any wave) is a phenomenon which transports energy from one location to another without
transporting matter.
Numericals