CLASS-9-CHAPTER-12-
STUDY OF SOUND
Notes
Science & Technology
Based on Maharashtra Board Syllabus
2020-2021
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Class-9-Chapter-12-Study of Sound
Topics to be learn :
Nature of sound
Production and propagation of sound
Velocity of sound
Audible, infrasound and ultrasound
Reflection of sound
Echo
Reverberation
SONAR
Sonography
Human ear
Sound : Sound is a form of energy which creates the sensation of hearing in our
ears.
This energy is in the form of waves.
A medium is necessary for the propagation of sound waves.
Sound Waves give rise to a chain of compression (place of higher density) and
rarefaction (place of lower density) in the medium.
Production of sound : Sound is produced due to vibrations of an object such as a
stretched membrane or a string under tension.
It propagates in the form of waves. It requires a medium (substance in the form of
solid/liquid/ gas) for propagation, i.e., it cannot travel through a vacuum.
Sound propagates in the form of longitudinal waves. As sound propagates through a
medium, there is a change in the density and pressure of the medium.
Compressions are regions of highest pressure as well as highest density.
Rarefactions are regions of lowest pressure as well as lowest density.
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A sound wave can be shown in the form of a graph. At any moment during the
propagation of a sound wave we would find alternate bands of compression and
rarefaction of the medium i.e. bands of greater and lesser density.
Figure A shows the changes in density while figure B shows the changes in pressure.
The changes in density or pressure are shown in the form of a graph in figure C
Here, : Wavelength,
A : amplitude (maximum pressure or maximum density).
T: time taken for one oscillation of pressure or density at a point in the medium.
The frequency () : is the number of oscillations per unit time.
= 1/ T. determines the pitch and A determines the loudness of sound. '
Waves : A wave is a disturbance moving through a medium when the particles of
the medium set neighbouring particles in motion.
A wave motion is a mode of transmission of energy through the medium.
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A wave in which the particles of the medium oscillate (vibrate) about their
mean positions in a direction perpendicular to the direction of wave
propagation is called a transverse wave.
A wave in which the particles of the medium oscillate (vibrate) about their
mean positions in a direction parallel to the direction of wave propagation is
called a longitudinal wave.
The particles do not move from one part to another part of the medium.
Velocity of sound :
Take your friend to a place where there are iron pipes e.g. the school
verandah, a staircase or a fence.
Stand near one end of the pipe and ask the friend to stand 20 feet to 25 feet
away from you near the pipe.
Ask the friend to gently tap the pipe with a stone. Press your ear to the pipe
and listen to the sound coming through the pipe.
The same sound coming through the air can also be heard. But which sound
reaches you first?
From the above activity you can see that you hear the sound through the iron pipe
much before you hear it coming through air. This shows that sound travels faster in
iron than in air.
Characteristics of sound waves : The distance between consecutive compressions
or consecutive rarefactions is called wavelength
Its SI unit is the metre (m) and CGS unit is the centimetre (cm).
One oscillation (vibration) corresponds to a change of density of the medium
from the maximum to the minimum value and again to the maximum value.
The number of oscillations (vibrations) per unit time is called the frequency ()
of the wave. Its SI unit is the hertz (Hz).
The time taken by consecutive compressions or rarefactions to cross a fixed
point is called the time period (T) of the wave. Its SI unit (as well as CGS unit)
is the second. The relation between frequency and period is = 1/ T.
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The magnitude of the maximum disturbance in the medium on either side of
the mean value is called the amplitude (A) of the wave. In the case of a sound
wave, the unit of amplitude is that of density or pressure.
The amount of sound energy passing per unit time through unit area is called
the intensity of sound.
The distance covered by a point on the wave (for example the point of
highest density or lowest density) in unit time is the velocity of the
sound wave (v).
v= =
𝑇
It is almost the same for all frequencies in a given medium under the same
physical conditions. It depends on the medium and increases with
temperature.
The higher the frequency of sound the higher is the pitch. It depends upon
how the brain interprets the frequency of sound.
Loudness of sound depends on the physiological perception of intensity of
sound and increases with intensity.
The quality or timber of sound is the characteristic of sound that enables us to
distinguish one sound from another having the same pitch and loudness.
The Italian physicists Borelli and viviani, in the 1660s, first calculated the speed of
sound. They measured the time between seeing the flash of a gun and hearing its
sound from a long distance. Their value of 350 m/ s is very close to the value of
346 m/ s which is accepted today.
Velocity of sound in a gaseous medium: The velocity of sound in a gaseous
medium depends on the physical conditions i.e. the temperature, density of the gas
and its molecular weight.
The speed of sound in a gas is
𝛾𝑝 𝛾𝑅𝑇
v=√ = √
𝜌 𝑀
Temperature (T): The velocity of sound is directly proportional to the square root
of the temperature of the medium. This means that increasing the temperature four
times doubles the velocity. v √𝑇
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Density (): The velocity of sound is inversely proportional to the square root of
1
density. v √
Thus, increasing the density four times, reduces the velocity to half its value.
Molecular weight (M): The velocity sound is inversely proportional to the square
root of molecular weight of the gas. Thus, increasing the molecular weight four
1
times, reduces the velocity to half its value. v √
M
Range of hearing in humans : The range of hearing in humans is from 20 Hz to
20000 Hz.
Q. How are the frequencies of notes sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni related to
each other?
Ans. Standard tuning: sa-440 Hz, re - 494 Hz, ga - 554 Hz, ma - 587 Hz, pa -
659 Hz, dha - 740 Hz, ni - 831 Hz, sa -(octave) 880 Hz.
Frequency ratio : re : sa about 1.12, ga : re about 1.12, sa (octave) : sa = 2.
Q. What is the main difference between the frequencies of the voice of a
man and that of a woman?
Ans. The voice of a man has higher pitch (higher frequency) than that of a
woman.
Infrasound and ultrasound: The sound of frequency less than 20 Hz is called
infrasound and that of frequency more than 20000 Hz is called ultrasound. We
cannot hear infrasound and ultrasound.
Uses of Ultrasounds :
to establish ship to ship communication
for welding plastic surfaces
to kill bacteria in liquids like milk to preserve them
in echocardiography
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for imaging internal organs of the human body (sonography)
in industry to clean parts of a machine
to detect cracks and flaws in metal blocks.
Reflection of sound : Sound waves follow the same laws of reflection as followed
by light waves. The directions in which sound is incident and reflected make equal
angles with the normal to the reflecting surface at the point of incidence and the
three are in the same plane.
Echo : Repetition of original sound due to reflection from a surface is called echo.
The sensation of sound persists in our brain for about 0.1 second. The speed of
sound in air at 22 °C is 344 m/s. Hence, for hearing distinct echo, the minimum
distance of the reflecting surface from the source of sound must be 17.2 m in air at
22 °C.
Reverberation :The persistence of sound due to repeated reflection of sound in a
big hall or an auditorium is called reverberation.
In reverberation, the intensity of sound and the time interval between the successive
arrivals of the same sound go on decreasing with time. Excessive reverberation is
not desirable as the speech of a speaker or the pitch of music cannot be heard
clearly due to the mixing of reflected waves and direct waves produced after the
production of earlier waves.
To avoid these problems, reverberation should be reduced/controlled. For this the
roof and walls of the auditorium are covered with sound absorbent materials such as
compressed fibre boards, rough plaster or curtains. Even the material of the seat is
chosen such that it absorbs sound waves to the desired extent.
SONAR: Sound navigation and ranging (SONAR) refers to determination of the
distance and location of underwater objects using ultrasonic waves.
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SONAR has a transmitter and a receiver, which are fitted on ships or boats.
The transmitter produces and transmits ultrasonic sound waves.
These waves travel through water, strike underwater objects and get reflected
by them. The reflected waves are received by the receiver on the ship.
The receiver converts the ultrasonic sound into electrical signals and these
signals are properly interpreted. The time difference between transmission and
reception is noted.
This time and the velocity of sound in water give the distance from the ship, of
the object which reflects the waves.
SONAR is used to determine the depth of the sea. SONAR is also used to
search underwater hills, valleys, submarines, icebergs, sunken ships etc.
Sonography : In this case, ultrasounds (ultrasonic Waves) are used to produce
images of internal organs of the human body.
A gel is applied to the skin outside the internal organ to be examined. The gel
provides proper contact between the skin and the probe used to transmit
ultrasounds inside the body.
The waves reflected from the internal organ are collected by the probe and fed
to a computer.
The computer produces the images of the organs.
This method is painless. It is used in determining the cause of swelling,
infection, pain, the condition of the heart, the growth of the foetus inside the
womb of a pregnant woman, etc.
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The human ear : The human ear converts pressure variations in air with audible
frequencies into electrical signals that travel to the brain, via the auditory nerve.
Hence, we can hear sound.
Outer ear or Pinna
The outer ear collects the sound waves and passes them through a tube to a cavity
in the middle ear.
Middle ear
There is a thin membrane in the cavity of the middle ear called the eardrum. When a
compression in a sound wave reaches the eardrum, the pressure outside it increases
and it gets pushed inwards. The opposite happens when a rarefaction reaches there.
The pressure outside decreases and the membrane gets pulled outwards. Thus,
sound waves cause vibrations of the membrane.
Inner ear
The auditory nerve connects the inner ear to the brain. The inner ear has a structure
resembling the shell of a snail. It is called the cochlea. The cochlea receives the
vibrations coming from the membrane and converts them into electrical signals
which are sent to the brain through the nerve. The brain analyses these signals.
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The ear is an important sensory organ. Sticks or other pointed objects should
never be inserted into the ear for cleaning it. Also, one should not hear very loud
music using earphones. It may cause grave injury to the eardrum.
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