Sound Waves

What Causes Sound?

VIBRATIONS
 Sound Waves

Molecules in the air vibrate about some average position

creating the compressions and rarefactions. We call the
frequency of sound the pitch.
Longitudinal vs.
Transverse Waves
 Sound is a longitudinal wave, meaning
that the motion of particles is along
the direction of propagation
 Transverse waves—water waves,
light—have things moving
perpendicular to the direction of
propagation

Spring 2006 UCSD: Physics 8; 2006 3

Why is Sound Longitudinal?
 Waves in air can’t really be transverse, because the
atoms/molecules are not bound to each other
– can’t pull a (momentarily) neighboring molecule sideways
– only if a “rubber band” connected the molecules would
this work
– fancy way of saying this: gases can’t support shear loads
 Air molecules can really only bump into one another
 Imagine people in a crowded train station with
hands in pockets
– pushing into crowd would send a wave of compression
into the crowd in the direction of push (longitudinal)
– jerking people back and forth (sideways, over several
meters) would not propagate into the crowd
– but if everyone held hands (bonds), this transverse motion
would propagate into crowd
Spring 2006 UCSD: Physics 8; 2006 4
 The Fundamentals of
Sound Waves
Sound waves are longitudinal waves

 Frequency
– number of oscillations in
pressure per second
 Wavelength
– distance between each
successive region of high or
low pressure.
The Speed of Sound

 Molecules of the medium collide, allowing

the wave to be transmitted through it.
– The speed of sound depends on elasticity
of the medium.
– The more elastic the medium, the faster
the sound.
– Elasticity – the ability of a solid to return
to its original shape after external forces
have been exerted on it. (16.6 for more)
Example Sound Speeds
Medium sound speed (m/s)
air (20C) 343
water 1497
gold 3240
brick 3650
wood 3800–4600
glass 5100
steel 5790
aluminum 6420

Spring 2006 UCSD: Physics 8; 2006 7

http://hypertextbook.com/physics/waves/sound/
The Medium

 What if there is no medium?

– A vacuum perhaps…
 Waves in different media
– In what medium will sound travel
fastest… Steel, wood, or you?

What does the speed of sound depend

upon?
The Medium
Visualizing Sound
Ruben’s Tube
Echo Location and Sonar
Loudness

 Loudness - depends on the amplitude

of sound wave
– Again, the amplitude of a wave indicates
its energy. The greater the amplitude, the
greater the energy. (DB Mic. DEMO)

On the graphs to the right

Where is the sound loudest?
16.7 – 16.8 LOUDNESS
 The intensity of a sound is proportional to the square
of the amplitude of the sound wave. (E ≈ I ≈ A2)

 Loudness is measured in decibels (dB) AMPLITUDE

VIBRATING MICROPHONE
LOUDSPEAKER OSCILLOSCOPE
 1 10 100 1000

 The decibel scale is logarithmic, increasing by factors

of 10
Sound Intensity (E≈I≈A2)

 Sound intensity is the sound power as

it passes through a given area
 I = P / Area… (W/m2)
 So... I = P / 4Π r2… for a sphere
Sound Intensity (E≈I≈A2)

 Sound Intensity is not the same as

Sound Intensity Level!!!
 Io = 1 x 10-12 W/m2 (threshold of hearing)
 Intensity Level, β, is a comparison of
two sound intensities (Ratio)
β = (10 dB) log10 (I / Io)
Sound Level (dB’s)

β = (10 dB) log10 (I / Io)

 If the intensity, I, exceeds the
reference intensity, Io, by a factor of 4,
the intensity level is???

β = (10 dB) log10 (4)

β = 6 dB
Can we measure sound intensity? – YES!

Units of Sound Level Intensity: decibels (dB),

which is a logarithmic scale

An increase in 10 decibels of sound level intensity,

or 10 dB, is perceived to be two times louder (21)

Example: Normal conversation is 60 dB,

and a vacuum cleaner is 80 dB

4x’s
Question: How is the change in sound perceived?
(vacuum cleaner compared to normal conversation? (22)
 Typical Sound Intensities

Near total silence - 0 dB

A whisper - 15 dB
Normal conversation - 60 dB
A lawnmower - 90 dB
iPod (at full volume) - 100 dB
A car horn - 110 dB
A rock concert or a jet engine - 120 dB
A gunshot or firecracker - 140 dB

Rule: Each 10 dB is ten times the sound intensity!

Therefore, the difference between a gunshot and
total silence is 1014 times the INTENSITY!!

NOTE: The Sound LEVEL would be 214 or 16,384 X’s greater!!

 Other notable sound intensities

85 dB - Raise your voice so that others may hear

(time for hearing protection!!!)

90 dB for eight hours: Damage to your ears

140 dB sound: Immediate damage to ears

120 dB: The F/A-18 Hornet
Noise Abatement: PA Turnpike
Warrendale Plaza Noise Walls
Noise Abatement Example:
The Automobile Muffler

Muffler Animation
Bose Noise Canceling Headphones
Sound Levels

Loudness is measured in Decibels (dB)

(more on page 487)
– Breathing 10 dB
– Normal Speech 60 dB
– Concert 115 dB
– Pain Threshold 120 dB
Sound and Pitch

 Pitch - the frequency of a sound wave

– The human ear is not equally sensitive to
all frequencies (EAR VISUAL & discussion)
 Most people cannot hear frequencies below
20Hz or above 16,000Hz (Audible ʄ DEMO)
 Most people are most sensitive to frequencies
between 1,000 and 5,000 Hz
 Battle of the Ages

Musical Scale
 Example “middle C” has a frequency of 262 Hz.
 υ =fx

- Where υ is the speed of LIGHT

- (3.0 x 108 m/s)

- f is 102.5 x 106 Hz (102.5 MHz)

 =?

Timbre: Sound Quality
 The characteristics of a sound which allow
the human to distinguish between sounds of
the same pitch and loudness
 For example why does a flute playing a “C”
sound differently from a guitar playing the
same note?
 There are three contributors to timbre...
– Attack and Decay
– Vibrato
– Harmonic Content (the most important
contributor)