Sound Energy

What is sound?

 Sound is
– A form of energy made by vibrations.

– When an object vibrates it causes the air particles

around it to move.

– These particles bump into particles close to them

and this continues until they run out of energy.
Try this:

 Put your finger on your neck and say “aah”

as loud as you can.

 Now say it as soft as you can.

 You can not only hear the sound, but you can
feel the vibration inside your throat.
How does sound travel?

 Sound travels through all forms of matter—

gases, liquids and solid.

 These are called the medium.

 Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.

What is pitch?

 Pitch is how high or how low a sound is.

 This is a high pitched sound.

 This is a low pitched sound.

How does sound travel?

 Sound passes through the medium as

longitudinal waves.
 When the vibrations are fast you hear a
high pitch. When they’re slow, you hear a
low pitch.

High Pitch Low Pitch

How else can we change sound?

 We can make it louder or softer by changing

the amplitude of the height of the wave.
 The higher the amplitude, the louder the
sound. The lower the amplitude the softer
the sound.

Louder

Softer
How do musical instruments create
sound?

 It depends on the type of instrument. There

are four types.

– Woodwind
– String
– Percussion
– Brass
Woodwinds Instruments

 Woodwinds make music by blowing on the

top of the instrument or on a reed.

Clarinet
Bassoon

Oboe

Flute
Piccolo
 String Instruments

 Strings make music by plucking or strumming

the strings.

Cello Guitar Harp

Violin

Electric
Guitar
Percussion Instruments

 Percussion instruments make music by

striking, shaking or scraping them.

Tambourine Piano

Drum

Xylophone Maracas
Cymbals
Brass Instruments

 Brass instruments make music by buzzing

lips while blowing.

Trombone

French Horn

Tuba

Trumpet
Did you know?

 Sound travels 4 times faster through water

than through air.

 There is no sound in space.

 Geologists use their knowledge of how

sound travels through rocks to help them find
oil fields.