3/6/2017 TheSpeedofSound

TheSpeedofSound
PitchandFrequency
IntensityandtheDecibelScale
TheSpeedofSound
TheHumanEar

Asoundwaveisapressuredisturbancethattravelsthroughamediumbymeansofparticletoparticle
interaction.Asoneparticlebecomesdisturbed,itexertsaforceonthenextadjacentparticle,thus
disturbingthatparticlefromrestandtransportingtheenergythroughthemedium.Likeanywave,
thespeedofasoundwavereferstohowfastthedisturbanceispassedfrom
particletoparticle.Whilefrequencyreferstothenumberofvibrationsthatan
individualparticlemakesperunitoftime,speedreferstothedistancethatthe
disturbancetravelsperunitoftime.Alwaysbecautioustodistinguishbetween
thetwooftenconfusedquantitiesofspeed( howfast...)andfrequency( howoften...
).
Sincethespeedofawaveisdefinedasthedistancethatapointonawave(suchasacompressionora
rarefaction)travelsperunitoftime,itisoftenexpressedinunitsofmeters/second(abbreviatedm/s).
Inequationform,thisis

speed=distance/time
Thefasterasoundwavetravels,themoredistanceitwillcoverinthesameperiodoftime.Ifasound
wavewereobservedtotraveladistanceof700metersin2seconds,thenthespeedofthewavewould
be350m/s.Aslowerwavewouldcoverlessdistanceperhaps660metersinthesametimeperiodof
2secondsandthushaveaspeedof330m/s.Fasterwavescovermoredistanceinthesameperiodof
time.

FactorsAffectingWaveSpeed
Thespeedofanywavedependsuponthepropertiesofthemediumthroughwhichthewaveis
traveling.Typicallytherearetwoessentialtypesofpropertiesthataffectwavespeedinertial
propertiesandelasticproperties.Elasticpropertiesarethosepropertiesrelatedtothetendencyofa
materialtomaintainitsshapeandnotdeformwheneveraforceorstressisappliedtoit.Amaterialsuch
assteelwillexperienceaverysmalldeformationofshape(anddimension)whenastressisappliedtoit.
Steelisarigidmaterialwithahighelasticity.Ontheotherhand,amaterialsuchasarubberbandis
highlyflexiblewhenaforceisappliedtostretchtherubberband,itdeformsorchangesitsshape
readily.Asmallstressontherubberbandcausesalargedeformation.Steelisconsideredtobeastiffor
rigidmaterial,whereasarubberbandisconsideredaflexiblematerial.Attheparticlelevel,astiffor
rigidmaterialischaracterizedbyatomsand/ormoleculeswithstrongattractionsforeachother.Whena
forceisappliedinanattempttostretchordeformthematerial,itsstrongparticleinteractionsprevent
thisdeformationandhelpthematerialmaintainitsshape.Rigidmaterialssuchassteelareconsidered
tohaveahighelasticity.(Elasticmodulusisthetechnicalterm).Thephaseofmatterhasatremendous
impactupontheelasticpropertiesofthemedium.Ingeneral,solidshavethestrongestinteractions
betweenparticles,followedbyliquidsandthengases.Forthisreason,longitudinalsoundwavestravel
fasterinsolidsthantheydoinliquidsthantheydoingases.Eventhoughtheinertialfactormayfavor
gases,theelasticfactorhasagreaterinfluenceonthespeed(v)ofawave,thusyieldingthisgeneral
pattern:
vsolids>vliquids>vgases
Inertialpropertiesarethosepropertiesrelatedtothematerial'stendencytobesluggishtochangesinits
stateofmotion.Thedensityofamediumisanexampleofaninertialproperty.Thegreaterthe
inertia(i.e.,massdensity)ofindividualparticlesofthemedium,thelessresponsivetheywillbetothe
interactionsbetweenneighboringparticlesandtheslowerthatthewavewillbe.Asstatedabove,sound
wavestravelfasterinsolidsthantheydoinliquidsthantheydoingases.However,withinasingle
phaseofmatter,theinertialpropertyofdensitytendstobethepropertythathasagreatestimpact1/2
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/Lesson2/TheSpeedofSound
uponthespeedofsound.Asoundwavewilltravelfasterinalessdensematerialthanamoredense
3/6/2017 TheSpeedofSound

material.Thus,asoundwavewilltravelnearlythreetimesfasterinHeliumthanitwillinair.Thisis
mostlyduetothelowermassofHeliumparticlesascomparedtoairparticles.

TheSpeedofSoundinAir
Thespeedofasoundwaveinairdependsuponthepropertiesoftheair,mostlythetemperature,and
toalesserdegree,thehumidity.Humidityistheresultofwatervaporbeingpresentinair.Likeany
liquid,waterhasatendencytoevaporate.Asitdoes,particlesofgaseouswaterbecomemixedinthe
air.Thisadditionalmatterwillaffectthemassdensityoftheair(aninertialproperty).Thetemperature
willaffectthestrengthoftheparticleinteractions(anelasticproperty).Atnormalatmosphericpressure,
thetemperaturedependenceofthespeedofasoundwavethrough dryair
isapproximatedbythe
followingequation:
v=331m/s+(0.6m/s/C)T
whereTisthetemperatureoftheairindegreesCelsius.Usingthisequationtodeterminethespeedof
asoundwaveinairatatemperatureof20degreesCelsiusyieldsthefollowingsolution.
v=331m/s+(0.6m/s/C)T
v=331m/s+(0.6m/s/C)(20C)
v=331m/s+12m/s
v=343m/s
(Theaboveequationrelatingthespeedofasoundwaveinairtothetemperatureprovidesreasonably
accuratespeedvaluesfortemperaturesbetween0and100Celsius.Theequationitselfdoesnothave
anytheoreticalbasisitissimplytheresultofinspectingtemperaturespeeddataforthistemperature
range.Otherequationsdoexistthatarebasedupontheoreticalreasoningandprovideaccuratedatafor
alltemperatures.Nonetheless,theequationabovewillbesufficientforouruseasintroductoryPhysics
students.)

LookItUp!
TheSpeedofSound widgetbelowallowsyoutolookupthespeedatwhichsoundwavestr

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