2 Sound Wave

Speed of Longitudinal (Sound) Waves

E
Newton Formula vmedium = (Use for every medium)

Where E = Elasticity coefficient of medium &  = Density of medium
Y
• For Solid Medium vsolid = Where E = Y = Young's modulas


B
• For Liquid Medium vliquid = Where E = B, where B = volume elasticity coefficient of liquid

• For Gas Medium
The formula for velocity of sound in air was first obtained by Newton. He assumed that sound
propagates through air and temperature remains constant. (i.e. the process is isothermal) so
Isothermal Elasticity = P  vair = (P / )

1.01  105
At NTP for air P = 1.01 x 105 N/m2 and  = 1.3 kg/m3 so vair = = 279 m/s
1.3
However, the experimental value of sound in air is 332 m/s which is much higher than given by
Newton's formula.
• Laplace Correction
In order to remove the discrepancy between theoretical and experimental values of velocity of
sound, Laplace modified Newton's formula assuming that propagation of sound in air is
adiabatic process, i.e.
P
Adiabatic Elasticity = p so that v = i.e. v = 1.41 x 279 = 331.3 m/s [as air = 1.41]

Which is in good agreement with the experimental value (332 m/s). This in turn establishes that
sound propagates adiabatically through gases.
The velocity of sound in air at NTP is 332 m/s which is much lesser than that of light and radio
waves (= 3 x 108 m/s). This implies that –
(a) If we set our watch by the sound of a distant siren it will be slow.
(b) If we record the time in a race by hearing sound from starting point it will be lesser than
actual.
(c) In a cloud–lightening, though light and sound are produced simultaneously but as c > v, light
proceeds thunder. An in case of gases –

P PV  mass M   RT  RT

vs = = as  = =  or vs = [as PV = RT] or vs =
 mass  volume V  M Mw

 mass M 
as  = = where Mw = Molecular weight 
 Mw Mw 
vs 
And from kinetic-theory of gases vrms = (3RT / Mw ) So =
v rms 3

Sound Wave 53
Effect of Various Quantities

(1) Effect of Temperature

1
v2 T2 t + 273  t 2
For a gas  & MW is constant v  T  = = vt = v0  1 + 
v1 T1 273  273 
By applying Binomial theorem.
 t 
(i) For any gas medium vt = v0  1 + 
 546 
(ii) For air: vt = v0 + 0.61 t m/sec. (v0 = 332 m/sec.)

(2) Effect of Relative Humidity

With increase in humidity, density decreases so in the light of v =  P / ) We conclude that

with rise in humidity velocity of sound increases. This is why sound travels faster in humid air
(rainy season) than in dry air (summer) at same temperature. Due to this in rainy season the
sound of factories siren and whistle of train can be heard more than summer.

(3) Effect of Pressure

E P  RT
As velocity of sound v = = =
  M
So, pressure has no effect on velocity of sound in a gas as long as temperature remain constant.
This is why in going up in the atmosphere, though both pressure and density decreases, velocity
of sound remains constant as long as temperature remains constant. Further more it has also
been established that all other factors such as amplitude, frequency, phase, loudness pitch,
quality etc. has partially no effect on velocity of sound.
Velocity of sound in air is measured by resonance tube or Hebb's method while in gases by
Quinke's tube. Kundt's tube is used to determine velocity of sound in any medium solid, liquid
or gas.

(4) Effect of Motion of Air

If air is blowing then the speed of sound changes. If the actual speed of sound is v and the
speed of air is w, then the speed of sound in the direction in which air is blowing will be (v+ w),
and in the opposite direction it will be (v – w).

(5) Effect of Frequency

There is no effect of frequency on the speed of sound. Sound waves of different frequencies
travel with the same speed in air although their wavelength in air are different. If the speed of
sound were dependent on the frequency, then we could not have enjoyed orchestra.

Example:
A piezo electric quartz plate of thickness 0.005 m is vibrating in resonant conditions. Calculate
its fundamental frequency if for quartz Y = 8  1010 N/m2 and  = 2.65 x 103 kg/m3

54 Sound Wave
Solution:

Y 8  1010
We know that for longitudinal waves in solids v = , So v = = 5.5  103 m/s
 2.65  103
Further more for fundamental mode of plate – (/2) = L So  = 2 x 5 x 10–3 = 10–2 m
But as v = f, i.e., f = (v/) so f = [5.5 x 103/10–2] = 5.5 x 105 Hz = 550 kHz

Example:
Determine the change in volume of 6 liters of alcohol if the pressure is decreased from 200 cm
of Hg to 75 cm. [velocity of sound in alcohol is 1280 m/s, density of alcohol = 0.81 gm/cc, density
of Hg = 13.6 gm/cc and g = 9.81 m/s2]
Solution:

For propagation of sound in liquid v = (B /  ) i.e., B = v2

P P V( −P)
But by definition B = – V So –V = v2, i.e. V =
V V v 2
Here P = H2g – H1g = (75 – 200)  13.6  981 = –1.667  106 dynes/cm2

So V =
(6  10 )( 1.667  10 )
3 6

= 0.75 cc
0.81  ( 1.280  10 )
2
5

Example:
(a) Speed of sound in air is 332 m/s at NTP. What will the speed of sound in hydrogen at NTP
if the density of hydrogen at NTP is (1/16) that of air.
(b) Calculate the ratio of the speed of sound in neon to that in water vapour at any temperature.
[Molecular weight of neon = 2.02  10–2 kg/mol and for water vapours = 1.8  10–2 kg/mol]
Solution:

E P  RT
The velocity of sound in air is given by v = = =
  M

vH PH air air
(a) In terms of density and pressure =  = [as Pair = PH]
v air H Pair H

air 16
 vH = vair  = 332  = 1328 m/s
H 1

v Ne Ne MW
(b) In terms of temperature and molecular weight =  [as TN = TW]
vW MNe W

Now as neon is mono atomic ( = 5/3) while water vapours poly atomic ( = 4/3) so

v Ne
=
(5 / 3)  1.8  10 −2

=
5

1.8
= 1.055
vW ( 4 / 3)  2.02  10 −2
4 2.02

Sound Wave 55
 Concept Builders-1

Q.1 In a quink tube experiment a tuning fork of frequency 300 Hz is vibrated at one end. It is
observed that intensity decreases from maximum to 50 % of its maximum value as tube is
moved by 6.25 cm. Velocity of sound (in m/s) is.

Q.2 Three plane sources of sound of frequency n1 = 400 Hz, n2 = 401 Hz and n3 = 402 Hz of equal
amplitude ‘a’ each are sounded together. A detector receives waves from all the three sources
simultaneously. Then the period in sec. of one complete cycle of intensity received by detector is

Q.3 The speed of sound in air at N.T.P is 300 m/s. If pressure of air is increased to four times
keeping the temperature constant, the speed of sound will becomes -
(A) 150 m/s (B) 300 m/s
(C) 600 m/s (D) 1200 m/s

 x 
Q.4 The equation of a stationary wave is y = 0.8 cos   sin200t, where x is in cm and t is in
 20 
sec. The separation between consecutive nodes will be:
(A) 20 cm (B) 10 cm
(C) 40 cm (D) 30 cm

Vibration in Organ Pipes

When two longitudinal waves of same frequency and amplitude travel in a medium in opposite
directions then by superposition, standing waves are produced. These waves are produced in air
columns in cylindrical tube of uniform diameter. These sound producing tubes are called organ pipes.

1. Vibration of Air Column in Closed Organ Pipe

The tube which is closed at one end and open at the other end is called close organ pipe. On
blowing air at the open end, a wave travels towards closed end from where it is reflected
towards open end. As the wave reaches open end, it is reflected again. So two longitudinal
waves travel in opposite directions to superpose and produce stationary waves. At the closed
end there is a node since particles does not have freedom to vibrate whereas at open end there
is an antinode because particles have greatest freedom to vibrate.

Fundamental Ist Overtone IInd Overtone

A A A

N
N
A
1 32 53
 4 4 4
N
A
A

N N N
(i) (ii) (iii)

56 Sound Wave
 Hence on blowing air at the open end, the column vibrates forming antinode at free end and
node at closed end. If  is length of pipe and  be the wavelength and v be the velocity of sound
in organ pipe then
 v v
Case (i) =  =4  n1 = = fundamental frequency.
4  4
3 4 v 3v
Case (ii) =  =  n2 = = First overtone / IIIrd Harmonic
4 3  4
5 4 v 5v
Case (iii) =  =  n3 = = Second overtone / Vth Harmonic
4 5  4

When closed organ pipe vibrate in mth overtone then = (2m + 1)
4
4 v
So  =  n = (2m + 1)
(2m + 1) 4
Hence frequency of overtones is given by n1 : n2 : n3 .......... = 1 : 3 : 5 ....

2. Vibration of Air Columns in Open Organ Pipe

The tube which is open at both ends is called an open organ pipe. On blowing air at the open
end, a wave travel towards the other end after reflection from open end waves travel in opposite
direction to superpose and produce stationary wave. Now the pipe is open at both ends by
which an antinode is formed at open end. Hence on blowing air at the open end antinodes are
formed at each end and nodes in the middle. If  is length of the pipe and  be the wavelength
and v is velocity of sound in organ pipe.

Fundamental Ist Overtone IInd Overtone

A A A

N
N
A
1 2 2 3 3
N 2 A 2 N 2

N A

N
A A A
(i) (ii) (iii)

 v v
Case (i) =   = 2  n1 = = Fundamental frequency.
2  2
2 2 v 2v
Case (ii) =  =  n2 = = First overtone frequency.
2 2  2
3 2 v 3v
Case (iii) =  =  n3 = = Second overtone frequency.
2 3  2
Hence frequency of overtones are given by the relation n1 : n2 : n3 .......... = 1 : 2 : 3 ....
 4 v
When open organ pipe vibrate in mth overtone then = (m + 1) so  =  n = (m + 1)
4 m+ 1 2

Sound Wave 57
 Key Points

• A rod clamped at one end or a string fixed at one end is similar to vibration of closed end
organ pipe.

• A rod clamped in the middle is similar to the vibration of open end organ pipe.

• If an open pipe is half submerged in water, it becomes a closed organ pipe of length half that
of open pipe i.e. frequency remains same.

• Due to finite motion of air molecular in organ pipes reflection takes place not exactly at open
end but some what above it so in an organ pipe antinode is not formed exactly at free–end
but above it at a distance e = 0.6r (called end correction or Rayleigh's correction) with r being
the radius of pipe. So, for closed organ pipe L → L + 0.6r while for open L → L + 2  0.6r (as
v v
both ends are open) so that – fC = while f0=
4(L + 0.6r) 2(L + 1.2r)
This is why for a given v and L narrower the pipe higher will the frequency or pitch and shriller
will be the sound.

• For an organ pipe (closed or open) if v = constant. f  (1/L)

So, with decrease in length of vibrating air column, i.e., wavelength (  L), frequency or pitch
will increase and vice–versa. This is why the pitch increases gradually as an empty vessel fills
slowly.

v
• For an organ pipe if f = constant. v   or v  L, f = = constant i.e. the frequency of an organ

pipe will remain unchanged if the ratio of speed of sound in to its wave length remains
constant.

• As for a given length of organ pipe  = constant. f  v So

(a) With rise in temperature as velocity will increase (v  T ) the pitch will increase.
(Change in length with temperature is not considered unless stated)

(b) With change in gas in the pipe as v will change and so f will change (v   /M )

(c) With increase in moisture as v will increase and so the pitch will also.

58 Sound Wave
 Concept Builders-2

Q.1 In a resonance pipe the first and second resonance are obtained at lengths 22.7 cm and 70.2
cm respectively. What will be the end correction
(A) 1.05 cm (B) 115.5 cm
(C) 92.5 cm (D) 113.5 cm

Q.2 If fundamental frequency of closed pipe is 50 Hz. then frequency of 2an overtone is:
(A) 100 Hz (B) 50 Hz
(C) 250 Hz (D) 150 Hz

Q.3 Tube A has both ends open while tube B has one end closed, otherwise they are identical. The
ratio of fundamental frequency of tube A and B is:
(A) 1 : 2 (B) 1 : 4
(C) 2 : 1 (D) 4 : 1

Q.4 In one meter long open pipe what is the harmonic of resonance obtained with a tuning fork of
frequency 480 Hz
(A) First (B) Second
(C) Third (D) Fourth

Example:
For a certain organ pipe, three successive resonant frequencies are observed at 425, 595 and
765 Hz respectively. Taking the speed for sound in air to be 340 m/s (a) Explain whether the
pipe is closed at one end or open at both ends (b) determine the fundamental frequency and
length of the pipe.
Solution:
(a) The given frequencies are in the ratio
425 : 595 : 765, i.e., 5 : 7 : 9
And as clearly these are odd integers so the given pipe is closed pipe.
(b) From part (b) it is clear that the frequency of 5th harmonic (which is third overtone) is
425Hz
v v 340
So 425 = 5fc  fC = 85 Hz Further as fC = ,L= = =1m
4L 4fC 4  85

Example:
AB is a cylinder of length 1 m fitted with a thin flexible diaphram C at middle and two other thin
flexible diaphram A and B at the ends. The portions AC and BC contain hydrogen and oxygen
gases respectively. The diaphragms A and B are set into vibrations of the same frequency. What
is the minimum frequency of these vibrations for which diaphram C is a node? Under the
condition of the experiment the velocity of sound in hydrogen is 1100 m/s and oxygen 300 m/s.
Solution:
As diaphragm C is a node, A and B will be antinode (as in a organ pipe either both ends are
antinode or one end node and the other antinode), i.e., each part will behave as closed end
organ pipe so that

Sound Wave 59
 A C B

H2 O2

vH 1100 v 300
fH = = = 550 Hz and f0= 0 = =150Hz
4LH 4  0.5 4L0 4  0.5
As the two fundamental frequencies are different, the system will vibrate with a common
nH f0 150 3
frequency f such that f = nHfH = n0f0 i.e. = = =
n0 fH 550 11
i.e., the third harmonic of hydrogen and 11th harmonic of oxygen or 6th harmonic of hydrogen
and 22nd harmonic of oxygen will have same frequency. So the minimum common frequency
f = 3  550 or 11  150 = 1650 Hz

Apparatus for Determining Speed of Sound

1. Quinck's Tube:
It consists of two U shaped metal tubes. Sound waves with the help of tuning fork are produced
at A which travel through B & C and comes out at D where a sensitive flame is present. Now
the two waves coming through different path interfere and flame flares up. But if they are not
in phase, destructive interference occurs and flame remains undisturbed.

T1 B C T2

Suppose destructive interference occurs at D for some position of C. If now the tube C is moved
so that interference condition is disturbed and again by moving a distance x, destructive
interference occurs so that 2x = . Similarly, if the distance moved between successive

constructive and destructive interference is x then 2x = Now by having value of x, speed of
2
sound is given by v = n

2. Kundt's Tube: It is the used to determine speed of sound in different gases. It consists of a
glass tube in which a small quantity of lycopodium powder is spread. The tube is rotated so
that powder starts slipping. Now rod CD is rubbed at end D so that stationary waves form. The
disc C vibrates so that air column also vibrates with the frequency of the rod. The piston P is
adjusted so that frequency of air column become same as that of rod. So resonance occurs and
column is thrown into stationary waves. The powder sets into oscillations at antinodes while
heaps of powder are formed at nodes.
clamped at
P2 P1 the middle
rod R

lycopodium power

60 Sound Wave
 Let n is the frequency of vibration of the rod then, this is also the frequency of sound wave in
the air column in the tube.
rod air
For rod: = rod
For air: = air
2 2
Where air is the distance between two heaps of powder in the tube (i.e. distance between two
nodes). If vair and vrod are velocity of sound waves in the air and rod respectively, then
vair vrod
n= =
air rod

vair air
Therefore, = = air
Thus knowledge of vrod determines vair.
vrod rod rod

Resonance Tube
Construction
The resonance tube is a tube T (figure) made of brass or glass, about 1 meter long and 5 cm in
diameter and fixed on a vertical stand. Its lower end is connected to a water reservoir B by
means of a flexible rubber tube. The rubber tube carries a pinch-cock P. The level of water in
T can be raised or lowered by water adjusting the height of the reservoir B and controlling the
flow of water from B to T or from T to B by means of the pinch-cock P. Thus, the length of the
air–column in T can be changed. The position of the water level in T can be read by means of
a side tube C and a scale S.

Determination of The Speed of Sound in Air by Resonance Tube

First of all the water reservoir B is raised until the water level in the tube T rises almost to the
top of the tube. Then the pinch–cock P is tightened and the reservoir B is lowered. The water
level in T stays at the top. Now a tuning fork is sounded and held over the mouth of tube. The
pinch–cock P is opened slowly so that the water level in T falls and the length of the air–column
increases. At a particular length of air–column in T, a loud sound is heard. This is the first state
of resonance. In this position the following phenomenon takes place inside the tube.

Sound Wave 61
 (i) For first resonance 1 = /4

(ii) For second resonance 2 = 3/4 2 – 1 = /2   = 2(2 – 1)

If the frequency of the fork be n and the temperature of the air-column be toC, then the speed
of sound at toC is given by vt = n = 2n (2 – 1)
The speed of sound wave at 0oC v0 = (vt – 0.61 t) m/s.

End Correction: In the resonance tube, the antinode is not formed exactly at the open but
slightly outside at a distance x. Hence the length of the air -column in the first and second
states of resonance are (l1 + x) and (2 + x) then

(i) For first resonance 1 + x = /4 …(i)

(ii) For second resonance 2 + x = 3/4 ...(ii)

Subtract Equation (ii) from Equation (i)
2 – 1 = /2

 = 2 (2–1)

Put the value of  in Equation (i) 

2( 2
− 1
)
 1 + x =
4
− −3
 1 + x = 2 1
x= 2 1

2 2

Beats
When two sound waves of same amplitude travelling in same direction with slightly different
frequency superimpose, then intensity varies periodically with time. This effect is called Beats.
Suppose two waves of frequencies f1 and f2 (<f1) are meeting at some point in space. The
corresponding periods are T1 and T2 (>T1). If the two waves are in phase at t=0, they will again
be in phase when the first wave has gone through exactly one more cycle than the second. This
will happen at a time t=T, the period of the beat. Let n be the number of cycles of the first
wave in time T, then the number of cycles of the second wave in the same time is (n–1). Hence,
T = nT1= (n–1) T2

y1

y2

y1 & y2

62 Sound Wave
 T1T2 1 1
Eliminating n we have T = = =
T2 − T1 1 1 f1 − f2
−
T1 T2

1
The reciprocal of the beat period is the beat frequency f = = f1 − f2
T

Waves Interference on The Bases of Beats

Conditions % Two equal frequency waves travel in same direction.
Mathematical analysis
If displacement of first wave y1 = a sin 1t ⎯→ (N1, a) I  N 2 a2
Displacement of second wave y2 = a sin 2t ⎯→ (N2, a)
By superposition y = y1 + y 2
Equation of resulting wave y = a {sin 2N1t + sin 2 N2t}

 (N + N2 ) 
(N − N2 )  
 
(N1 − N2 )  (N1 + N2 )
y = a 2sin2 t 1 cos 2t 1  = 2a cos 2t  sin 2t = A sin 2N't

 2 2 
 
 2 
 2

 N − N2  N + N2
Amplitude A = 2a Cos 2t  1 = 2a cos t (N1 – N2) Frequency N' = 1
 2  2
 
• For Max Intensity (A = ± 2a):
If cos  (N1 – N2) t = ± 1  cos  (N1 – N2) t = cos n, n = 0, 1, 2, .........
n 1 2 3
  (N1 – N2)t = n  t = = 0, , , .............
N1 − N2 N N N
• For Minimum Intensity (A = 0):

 cos  (N1 – N2) t = 0  cos  (N1 – N2) t = cos (2n + 1) n = 0, 1, 2 .............
2
 2n + 1 1 3 5
  (N1 – N2) t = (2n + 1) t = = , , .............
2 2(N1 − N2 ) 2N 2N 2N

Key Points

• When we added wax on tuning fork then the frequency of fork decreases.

• When we file the tuning fork then the frequency of fork increases.

Example:
A tuning fork having n = 300 Hz produces 5 beats/s with another tuning fork. If impurity (wax)
is added on the arm of known tuning fork, the number of beats decreases then calculate the
frequency of unknown tuning fork.
Solution:
The frequency of unknown tuning fork should be 300 + 5 = 295 Hz or 305 Hz.
When wax is added, if it would be 305 Hz, beats would have increases but with 295 Hz beats is
decreases so frequency of unknown tuning fork is 295 Hz.

Sound Wave 63
Example:
A tuning fork having n = 158 Hz, produce 3 beats/s with another. As we file the arm of unknown,
beats become 7 then calculate the frequency of unknown.
Solution
The frequency of unknown tuning fork should be 158 ± 3 = 155 Hz or 161 Hz.
After filling the number of beats = 7 so frequency of unknown tuning fork should be
158 ± 7 = 165 Hz or 151 Hz.
As both above frequency can be obtain by filing so frequency of unknown = 155/161 Hz.

Special Points
1. Displacement and Pressure Waves
A sound wave (i.e. longitudinal mechanical wave) can be described either in terms of the
longitudinal displacement suffered by the particles of the medium (called displacement-wave)
or in terms of the excess pressure generated due to compression and rarefaction (called
pressure-wave). Consider a sound wave travelling in the x-direction in a medium. Suppose at
time t, the particle at the undisturbed position x suffers a displacement y in the x-direction.
The displacement wave then will be described by y = A sin (t – kx) ...(i)
Now consider the element of medium which is confined with in x and x+x in the undisturbed
state. If S is the cross-section, the volume element in undisturbed state will be V = S x. As
the wave passes the ends at x and x +x are displaced by amount y and y + y so that increase
in volume of the element will be V = S y.
V S y y
This in turn implies that volume strain for the element under consideration = = ...(ii)
V S x x
So corresponding stress, i.e. excess pressure
 −V   P P  y
P = B  as B = −V = −V  or P = −B x [From equation (ii)] ...(iii)
 V   V V 

dy vpa dy  vpa 
Note: For a harmonic -progressive - wave from = , P = −B = −B  
dx v dx  v 
 
i.e. pressure in a sound wave is equal to the product of elasticity of gas with the ratio of particle
speed to wave speed.
so
y T/ 2 T
But from equation (i) = −Ak cos(t − kx) s
x
x
So, P = AkB cos (t – kx)
i.e. P= P0 cos (t – kx) ...(iv)
po
x
with P0 = ABk ...(iv) p
From equation (i) and (iv) it is clear that
• A sound wave may be considered as either a displacement wave
y = A sin (t - kx) or a pressure wave P = P0 cos (t – kx).
• The pressure wave is 900 out of phase with respect to displacement wave, i.e, displacement
will be maximum when pressure is minimum and vice-versa. This is shown in figure
• The amplitude of pressure wave: P0 = ABk = Akv2 = vA [as v = B /  , v = /k] ...(v)
• As sound-sensors (e.g. ear or mic) detects pressure changes, description of sound as
pressure-wave is preferred over displacement wave.

64 Sound Wave
2. Ultrasonic, Infrasonic and Audible (sonic) Sound
Sound waves can be classified in three groups according to their range of frequencies.
• Infrasonic Waves
Longitudinal waves having frequencies below 20 Hz are called infrasonic waves. They cannot
be heard by human beings. They are produced during earthquakes. Infrasonic waves can be
heard by snakes.
• Audible Waves
Longitudinal waves having frequencies lying between 20-20,000 Hz are called audible waves.
• Ultrasonic Waves
Longitudinal waves having frequencies above 20,000 Hz are called ultrasonic waves. They
are produced and heard by bats. They have a large energy content.
• Applications of Ultrasonic Waves
Ultrasonic waves have a large range of application. Some of them are as follows:
(i) The fine internal cracks in metal can be detected by ultrasonic waves.
(ii) Ultrasonic waves can be used for determining the depth of the sea, lakes etc.
(iii) Ultrasonic waves can be used to detect submarines, icebergs etc.
(iv) Ultrasonic waves can be used to clean clothes, fine machinery parts etc.
(v) Ultrasonic waves can be used to kill smaller animals like rates, fish and frogs etc.
• Shock Waves
If the speed of the body in air is greater than the speed of the sound, then it is called
supersonic speed. Such a body leaves behind a conical region of disturbance which spreads
continuously. Such a disturbance is called a 'Shock Wave'. This wave carries huge energy. If
it strikes a building, then the building may be damaged.

3. Sound Intensity in Decibels

The physiological sensation of loudness is closely related to the intensity of wave producing the
sound. At a frequency of 1 kHz people are able to detect sounds with intensities as low as
10–12W/m2. On the other hand an intensity of 1 W/m2 can cause pain, and prolonged exposure to
sound at this level will damage a person's ears. Because the range in intensities over which
people hear is so large, it is convenient to use a logarithmic scale to specify intensities. If the
intensity of sound in watts per square meter is I, then the intensity level  in decibels (dB) is
I
given by  = 10log where the base of the logarithm is 10, and I0 =10–12 W/m2 (roughly the
I0
minimum intensity that can be heard).
1
On the decibel scale, the pain threshold of 1 W/m2 is then  = 10log = 120dB
10−12

Example:
Calculate the change in intensity level when the intensity of sound increases by 106 times its
original intensity.
Solution:
I Final intensity
Here = = 106
I0 Initial intensity

I 
Increase in intensity level, L = 10 log10   = 10 log10 (106) = 10 × log1010 = 10 × 6 × 1 = 60 decibels.
I
0 

Sound Wave 65
ECHO
Multiple reflection of sound is called an echo. If the distance of reflector from the source is d
then, 2d = vt
vt
Hence, = speed of sound and t, the time of echo.  d =
2
Since, the effect of ordinary sound remains on our ear for 1\10 second, therefore, if the sound
returns to the starting point before 1/10 second, then it will not be distinguished from the
original sound and no echo will be heard. Therefore, the minimum distance of the reflector is,
v  t  330   1 
dmin = =    = 16.5m
2  2   10 

Acoustic Doppler Effect (Doppler Effect for Sound Waves)

The apparent change in the frequency of sound when the source of sound, the observer and
the medium are in relative motion is called Doppler effect. While deriving these expressions,
we make the following assumptions
(i) The velocity of the source, the observer and the medium are along the line joining the
positions of the source and the observer.
(ii) The velocity of the source and the observer is less than velocity of sound.
Doppler effect takes place both in sound and light. In sound it depends on whether the source
or observer or both are in motion while in light it depends on whether the distance between
source and observer is increasing or decreasing.

Notations
n → actual frequency n' → observed frequency (apparent frequency)
 → actual wave length ' → observed (apparent) wave length
v → velocity of sound vs → velocity of source
v0 → velocity of observer vw → wind velocity

Case I: Source in Motion, Observer at Rest, Medium at Rest

n waves

S O S n
n n'=n
(rest) (rest)
v
both source and observer at rest

Suppose the source S and observer O are separated by distance v. Where v is the velocity of
sound. Let n be the frequency of sound emitted by the source. Then n waves will be emitted
by the source in one second. These n waves will be accommodated in distance v.
total distance v
So, wave length  = =
total number of waves n

(i) Source moving towards stationary observer:

Let the sources start moving towards the observer with velocity v s. After one second, the n
waves will be crowded in distance (v – vs). Now the observer shall feel that he is listening
to sound of wavelength ' and frequency n'

66 Sound Wave
 v
vS
S' S O
S O n n'
vS (moving) (rest)

v–vS
total distance v − vs
Now apparent wavelength ' = =
total number of waves n
v v  v 
and changed frequency, n' = = = n
'  v − vs   v − v 
 s 
 
 n 
So, as the source of sound approaches the observer the apparent frequency n' becomes
greater than the true frequency n.

(ii) When source move away from stationary observer:

For this situation n waves will be crowded in distance v + vs.
v+vS

S' S vS
O S O
n n'
(moving) (rest)
vS
v + vs
So, apparent wavelength ' = and
n
v v  vs 
Apparent frequency n' = = = n So n' < n
'  v + vs   v + v 
 s 
 
 n 

Case II: Observer in Motion, Source at Rest, Medium at Rest

Let the source (S) and observer (O) are in rest at their respective places. Then n waves given
by source 'S' would be crossing observer 'O' in one second and fill the space OA (=v)
v

O S O
S A n
(rest)
n'=n
(rest)
both source S and O at rest

(i) Observer moves towards stationary source

v + vo
vO
S A S
n
O
n'
O' O (rest) (moving)
vo v
When observer 'O' moves towards 'S' with velocity vo, it will cover vo distance in one second.
So, the observer has received not only the n waves occupying OA but also received additional
number of n waves occupying the distance OO' (= vo).
So, total waves received by observer in one second i.e., apparent frequency (n') = Actual
waves (n) + Additional waves (n)
v vo v + vo  v + vo   v
n' = + = = n =  (so, n' > n)
  ( v n)  v   n
  

Sound Wave 67
 (ii) Observer moves away from stationary source:
For this situation n waves will be crowded in distance v – vo.
v− vo
vo
S O
S O n n'
O O' (rest)
vo v
When observer move away from source with vo velocity then he will get n waves less than
real number of waves. So, total number of waves received by observer i.e.
Apparent frequency (n') = Actual waves (n) – reduction in number of waves (n)
v vo v − vo v − vo  v − vo   v
n' = − = = =  n =  (so n' < n)
   ( v n)  v   n

Key Points

• If medium (air) is also moving with vm velocity in direction of source to observer. Then velocity
of sound relative to observer will be v ± vm (–ve sign, if vm is opposite to sound velocity). So,
 v  vm  v o 
n' = n  
vv v s 
 m

• If medium moves in a direction opposite to the direction of propagation of sound, then

 v − vm − v o 
n' =  n
 v − v − v 
 m S 

 v 
• Source in motion towards the observer. Both medium and observer are at rest. n' =  n
 v − v 
 S 

So, when a source of sound approaches a stationary observer, the apparent frequency is more
than the actual frequency.
• Source in motion away from the observer. Both medium and observer are at rest.
 v 
n' =  n . So, when a source of sound moves away from a stationary observer, the
 v + v 
 S 

apparent frequency is less than actual frequency.

 v + vo 
• Observer in motion towards the source. Both medium and source are at rest. n' =   n .
 v
 
So, when observer is in motion towards the source, the apparent frequency is more than the
actual frequency.
 v − vo 
• Observer in motion away from the source. Both medium and source are at rest. n' =  n.
 v 
 
So, when observer is in motion away from the source, the apparent frequency is less than the
actual frequency.
 v − vo 
• Both source and observer are moving away from each other. Medium at rest. n' =  n
 v + v 
 S 

68 Sound Wave
Doppler's Effect in Reflection of Sound (ECHO)
When the sound is reflected from the reflector the observer receives two notes one directly
from the source and other from the reflector. If the two frequencies are different then
superposition of these waves result in beats and by the beat frequency we can calculate speed
of the source.
If the source is at rest and reflector is moving towards the source with speed u, then apparent
 v + u
frequency heard by reflector n1 =  n
 v 
Now this frequency n1 acts as a source so that apparent frequency received by observer is
 v   v   v + u  v + u
n2 =   n1 =   n =  n
 v −u  v −u  v   v −u
−1 2
 u u  u  2u 
If u << v then n2 = n  1 +   1 −   n  1 +   n  1 + 
 v  v   v   v 

 2u  v  n 
Beat frequency n = n2 – n =   n So speed of the source u =  
 v 2  n 

Conditions When Doppler's Effect is Not Observed for Sound Waves

• When the source of sound and observer both are at rest then Doppler effect is not observed.
• When the source and observer both are moving with same velocity in same direction.
• When the source and observer are moving mutually in perpendicular directions.
• When the medium only is moving.
• When the distance between the source and observer is constant.

Concept Builders-3

Q.1 A observer is moving towards a source with speed 15 m/s. The source is moving with speed 5
m/s in the same direction. Air is blowing with speed 10 m/s from observer to source. If
frequency of sound emitted is 325 Hz then frequency of sound heard by observer (velocity of
sound in air = 330 m/s) in Hz is equal to.

Q.2 Two trains whistles, A and B each have a frequency of 392 Hz. A is stationary and B is moving
toward the right (away from A) at a speed of 35.0 m/s. A listener is between the two whistles
and is moving toward the right with a speed of 15.0 m/s. No wind is blowing. What is beat
frequency detected by the listener.

Q.3 A source at rest sends sound waves of constant wavelength. A wall moves towards the source
with a velocity of 33 cm/s. The velocity of sound in the medium is 330 m/s. What is the
percentage change in wavelength of sound after reflection from the wall–
(A) 0.1% (B) 2% (C) 0.2% (D) 1%

Q.4 A bus is moving with a velocity of 5 m/s towards a huge wall. The driver sounds a horn of
frequency 165Hz. If the speed of sound in air = 335 m/s, the number of beats heard per second
by a passenger on the bus will be–
(A) 3 (B) 4 (C) 5 (D) 6

Sound Wave 69
 Q.5 A source of sound is moving in a circle as shown in the figure speed of the source is
Vs = 30 m/s and emitting sound with frequency 240 Hz. A observer is standing at a large
distance at P. Speed of the sound wave is 330 m/s.
C Vs
Vs

Vs
Vs A
Select the correct option –
(A) Maximum frequency heard by the observer is 280 Hz
(B) Minimum frequency heard by the observer is 240 Hz
(C) Maximum frequency heard by the observer is 264 Hz
(D) Minimum frequency heard by the observer is 220 Hz

Q.6 A listener is at rest with respect to the source of sound. A wind starts blowing along the line
joining the source and the observer. Which of the following quantities do not change?
(A) Frequency (B) Velocity of sound
(C) Wavelength (D) Time period

Example:
When both source and observer approach each other with a speed equal to the half the speed
of sound, then determine the percentage change in frequency of sound as detected by the
listener.
Solution:
 v  
v v v+   v
Source
2 2
Observer n' =  2  n =  2  n = 3n
v− v  1v
   
 2 2 
n'− n 3n − n 2n
% change =  100 =  100 =  100 = 200 %
n n n

Example:
Two trains travelling in opposite directions at 126 km/hr each, cross each other while one of
them is whistling. If the frequency of the node is 2.22 kHz find the apparent frequency as heard
by an observer in the other train:
(a) Before the trains cross each other
(b) After the trains have crossed each other. (vsound = 335 m/sec)
Solution:
5
Here v1 = 126 × = 35 m/s
18
(i) In this situation v1 v1
 v + v1   335 + 35 
Observed frequency n' =    n =    2220 = 2738 Hz
 v − v1   335 − 35 
(ii) In this situation v1 v1
 v − v1   335 − 35 
 v + v   n
Observed frequency n' =  =    2220 = 1800 Hz
 1   335 + 35 

70 Sound Wave
Example:
A stationary source emits sound of frequency 1200 Hz. If wind blows at the speed of 0.1v, deduce
(a) The change in the frequency for a stationary observer on the wind side of the source.
(b) Report the calculations for the case when there is no wind but the observer moves at 0.1v
speed towards the source. (Given: velocity of sound = v)
Solution:
(a) Medium moves in the direction of sound propagation i.e. from source to observer
so effective velocity of sound veff = v + vm
 v + vm + 0   v + 0.1v 
since both source and observer are at rest n' =  n=   n=n
 v + v + 0 
 m   v + 0.1v 
so, there is no change in frequency
 v + v0   v + 0.1v 
(b) When observer move towards source n' =  n=   n
 v   v
   
= 1.1 n = 1.1 × 1200 Hz = 1320 Hz

Example:
A bat is flitting about in a cave, navigating via ultrasonic beeps. Assume that the sound emission
frequency of the bat is 40 kHz. During one fast swoop directly toward a flat wall surface, the
bat is moving at 0.03 times the speed of sound in air. What frequency does the bat hear
reflected off the wall?
Solution:
The apparent frequency heard by the bat of reflected sound
 v + v0   v + 0.03v  1.03v
n' = 
 v − v 
n =    40 =  40 = 42.47 kHz
 s   v − 0.03v  0.97v

ANSWERS KEY FOR CONCEPT BUILDER

Concept Builder 1:
1. 300m/s 2. 1 3. (B) 4. (A)

Concept Builder 2:
1. (A) 2. (C) 3. (C) 4. (C)

Concept Builder 3:
1. 335 Hz 2. 4 3. (C) 4. (C)
5. (CD) 7. (AD)

Sound Wave 71
Some Worked Out Examples

Example 1:
Two tuning forks A and B lying on opposite sides of observer ‘O’ and of natural frequency 85 Hz
move with velocity 10 m/s relative to stationary observer O. Fork A moves away from the
observer while the fork B moves towards him. A wind with a speed 10 m/s is blowing in the
direction of motion of fork A. Find the beat frequency measured by the observer in Hz. [Take
speed of sound in air as 340 m/s]
(A) 5 (B) 6 (C) 7 (D) 8
Answer: (A)
Solution:
 v sound − vmedium  33
fobserver for source 'A' = f0  = f0 ;
 v sound − vmedium + v source  34

 v sound + vmedium  35
fobserver for source 'B' = f0  = f0
 v sound + vmedium − v source  34
 35 − 33 
 Beat frequency = f1 − f2 =  f = 5
 34  0

Example 2:
If y1 = 5 (mm) sint is equation of oscillation of source S1 and y2 = 5 (mm) sin(t + /6) be that
of S2 and it takes 1 sec and ½ sec for the transverse waves to reach point A from sources S 1
and S2 respectively then the resulting amplitude at point A, is
A
S1 S2

(A) 5 2 + 3 mm (B) 5 3 mm (C) 5 mm (D) 5 2 mm

Answer: (C)
Solution:
Wave originating at t =0 from S1 reaches point A at t = 1.
1
Wave originating at t = from S2 reaches point A at t = 1.
2
 
So, phase difference in these waves = + ;A= A21 + A22 + 2A 1A2 cos  = 5
2 6

Example 3:
Which of the figures, shows the pressure difference from regular atmospheric pressure for an
organ pipe of length L closed at one end, corresponds to the 1st overtone for the pipe?

(A) (B) (C) (D)

Answer: (A)
Solution:

N
Note
For pressure standing wave antinode A A N

fundamental frequency first overtone

72 Sound Wave
Example 4:
You are given four tuning forks, the lowest frequency of the forks is 300 Hz. By striking two
tuning forks at a time any of 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 & 8 Hz beat frequencies are heard. The possible
frequencies of the other three forks are-
(A) 301, 302 & 307 (B) 300, 304 & 307
(C) 301, 303 & 308 (D) 305, 307 & 308
Answer: (CD)
Solution:
3 7 7 3
1 2 5 5 2 1
300 301 303 308 300 305 307 308

8 8

Example 5:
Two notes A and B, sounded together, produce 2 beats per sec. Notes B and C sounded together
produce 3 beats per sec. The notes A and C separately produce the same number of beats with
a standard tuning fork of 456 Hz. The possible frequency of the note B is
(A) 453.5 Hz (B) 455.5 Hz
(C) 456.5 Hz (D) 458.5 Hz
Answer: (ABCD)
Solution:
Let frequency of note B be n then according to question
nA = n – 2 or n + 2
nC = n – 3 or n + 3
As A & C produce same number of beats with T.F. of frequency 456 Hz so
(n – 2) – 456 = 456 – (n – 3)  n = 458.5 Hz
(n + 3) – 456 = 456 – (n – 2)  n = 455.5 Hz
(n + 2) – 456 = 456 – (n – 3)  n = 456.5 Hz
(n + 3) – 456 = 456 – (n + 2)  n = 453.5 Hz

Example 6 to 8:
A metallic rod of length 1m has one end free and other end rigidly clamped. Longitudinal
stationary waves are set up in the rod in such a way that there are total six antinodes present
along the rod. The amplitude of an antinode is 4 × 10 –6 m. Young's modulus and density of the
rod are 6.4 × 1010 N/m2 and 4 × 103 Kg/m3 respectively. Consider the free end to be at origin and
at t=0 particles at free end are at positive extreme.

6. The equation describing displacements of particles about their mean positions is

 11   11 
(A) s = 4  10−6 cos  x  cos ( 22  103 t ) (B) s = 4  10−6 cos  x  sin ( 22  103 t )
 2   2 
(C) s = 4 × 10–6 cos(5x) cos (20 ×103t) (D) s = 4 × 10–6 cos(5x) sin (20 × 103t)
Ans. (A)

Sound Wave 73
7. The equation describing stress developed in the rod is
 11 
(A) 140.8  104 cos  x +   cos ( 22  103 t )
2 
 11 
(B) 140.8  104 sin  x +   cos ( 22  103 t )
2 
(C) 128×104 cos(5x + ) cos(20 × 103t)
(D) 128 × 104 sin(5x + ) cos(20 × 103t)
Ans. (B)

8. The magnitude of strain at midpoint of the rod at t= 1 sec is

(A) 11 3  10−6 (B) 11 2  10−6 (C) 10 3  10−6 (D) 10 2  10−6
Ans. (B)

Solution: (6 to 8)
y 5  4
Speed of wave v = = 4  103 = + =
 2 4 11
/2
v 4  10 3
2 11
Frequency  = = = 11  103 Hz ; Wave Number K = =
 4  2
1
11
(i) Equation of standing wave in the rod S = A coskx sin(t +) where A = 4 × 10–6 m 

  at x =0, t =0 S=A  A =A  cosk(0) sin  sin =1  =
2
 11 
S = 4  10−6 cos  x  cos ( 22  103 t )
 2 
ds  11 
(ii) Strain = = −22  10−6 sin  x  cos ( 22  103 t ) 
dx  2 
  stress = Y × strain

 11 
 stress = 140.8  104 cos ( 22  103 t ) sin  x + 
 2 
t =1
1 ds  11 
(iii) Strain at t = 1s and x = = m; = 22  10−6  sin   = 11 2  10
−6

2 2 dx x =  4 
2

Example 9 to 11:
A detector at x =0 receives waves from three sources each of amplitude A and frequencies
f +2, f and f–2.

9. The equations of waves are; y1 = Asin[2(f+2)t], y2 = Asin2ft and y3 = Asin[2(f–2)t]. The time at
which intensity is minimum, is
(A) t=0, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4,... secs (B) t=1/6, 1/3, 2/3, 5/6, ....sec
(C) t=0, 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, ....sec (D) t=1/2, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, ....sec
Answer: (B)

74 Sound Wave
Solution:
y = y1 + y2 + y3 = Asin2ft + Asin[2(f – 2)t] + Asin[2(f + 2)t] = Asin 2ft + 2Asin 2ft cos 4t
= A[1 + 2cos 4t] sin3ft = A0 sin2ft
[where A0 = Amplitude of the resultant oscillation = A [1+2cos4t]
Intensity  A02  I  (1 + 2cos4t)2
For maxima or minima of the intensity.
dI
= 0  2 ( 1 + 2cos4t ) ( 2) ( − sin4t ) 4 = 0  1 + 2 cos4t or sin4t =0
dt
1 2 n 1 1 1 2 5
 cos4t = −  4t = 2n   t = +  t = , , , ... (point of minimum intensity)
2 3 2 6 6 3 5 6

10. The time at which intensity is maximum, is

(A) t=0, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, ...sec (B) t=1/6, 1/3, 2/3, 5/6...sec
(C) t=0, 1/2, 3/2, 5/2 ...sec (D) t=1/2, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8...sec
Answer: (A)
Solution:
n 1 1 3
sin4t = 0  t =  t = 0, , , ... (point of maximum intensity)
4 4 2 4

11. If I0 A2, then the value of maximum intensity, is

(A) 2I0 (B) 3I0 (C) 4I0 (D) 9I0
Answer: (D)
Solution:
At t = 0, Imax  (1+2)2A2 = 9A2  Imax = 9I0

Example 12:
Consider a large plane diaphragm ‘S’ emitting sound and a detector ‘O’. The diagram shows
plane wavefronts for the sound wave travelling in air towards right when source, observer and
medium are at rest. AA' and BB' are fixed imaginary planes. Column-I describes about the motion
of source, observer or medium and column-II describes various effects. Match them correctly.
A B

O
S A' B'
Column I Column II
(A) Source starts moving towards right (P) Distance between any two wavefronts
will increase.
(B) Air starts moving towards right (Q) Distance between any two wavefronts
will decrease.
(C) Observer and source both move (R) The time needed by sound to move from
towards left with same speed. plane AA' to BB' will increase.
(D) Source and medium (air) both move (S) The time needed by sound to move from
towards right with same speed. plane AA' to BB' will decrease.
(T) Frequency received by observer increases.

Sound Wave 75
Answer: (A)-QT; (B)-PS; (C)-P; (D)-ST
Solution:
Velocity of sound in a medium is always given in the reference frame of medium.

Example 13:
Column I represents the standing waves in air columns and string. Column II represents
frequency of the note. Match the column-I with column-II. [v = velocity of the sound in the
medium]
Column-I Column-II
v
(A) Second harmonic for the tube open at both ends (P)
4
v
(B) Fundamental frequency for the tube closed at one end (Q)
2
3v
(C) First overtone for the tube closed at one end (R)
4
v
(D) Fundamental frequency for the string fixed at both ends (S)

5v
(T)
4
Answer: (A)-S; (B)-P; (C)-R; (D)-Q
Solution:
 v 
For (A): For open organ pipe 2nd harmonic = 2  
2 
v
For (B): For closed organ pipe fundamental frequency =
4
3v
For (C): For closed organ pipe, first overtone frequency =
4
v
For (D): For string fixed at both ends, fundamental frequency =
2

Example 14:
Two vibrating tuning forks produce progressive waves given by y1 = 4 sin(500t) and y2 = 2
sin(506t). These tuning forks are held near the ear of a person. The person will hear  beats/s
with intensity ratio between maxima and minima equal to . Find the value of −
Answer: 6
Solution:
y1 = 4 sin(500 t) y2 = 2 sin(506 t)
n1 − n2 506 − 500
Number of beats = = = 3 beat/sec.
2 2
As I1  (16) and I2  4

( )
2
2 2
Imax I1 + I2 4 + 2 6
 =   =  =9
Imin
( I )
4 − 2 2
2
I1 − 2

76 Sound Wave
Example 15:
A 1000 m long rod of density 10.0 × 104 kg/m3 and having young's modulus Y = 1011 Pa, is clamped
at one end. It is hammered at the other free end as shown in the figure. The longitudinal pulse
goes to right end, gets reflected and again returns to the left end. How much time (in sec) the
pulse take to go back to initial point?

Answer: 2
Solution:

Y 1011
Velocity of longitudinal u = = = 103 ms−1
 10  104
2 2  1000
Required time = =2s
v 103

Example 16:
A tuning fork P of unknown frequency gives 7 beats in 2 seconds with another tuning fork Q.
When Q is moved towards a wall with a speed of 5 m/s, it gives 5 beats per second for an
observer located left to it. On filing, P gives 6 beats per second with Q. The frequency (in Hz)
of P is given by (80 × ) +  ( I, 0    9) then find the value of  + . Assume speed of
sound = 332 m/s.
Answer: 9
Solution:

O Q Q

Let f1 and f2 be the frequencies of tuning forks P and Q, Then | f1–f2 | = 7/2
 v 
Apparent frequency for O corresponding to signal directly coming from Q = f2  
v+v 
 q 

 v   2v q v 
Apparent frequency of the echo = f2    f2 = f2  2 
v−v   v − v q 
2
 q 

Since, f2 = 5 (given)  f2 = 163.5 Hz. Now, f1 = 163.5  3.5 = 167 or 160 Hz, when P is filed, its
frequency will increase, since it is given that filed P gives greater number of beats with Q. It
implies that f1 must be 167 Hz.

Sound Wave 77
Example 17:
Find the number of maxima attend on circular perimeter as shown in the figure. Assume radius
of circle >>>.

1.7
S1 S2

Answer: 6
Solution:

 
1.7
1.7 1.7
1 in each quadrant, 1 top point, 1 bottom point
S1 S2

 

78 Sound Wave
 Objective Exercise - I

Single Correct Type Questions

1. A sound wave has a wavelength of 3.0 m. The distance from a compression center to the
adjacent rarefaction center is:
(A) 0.75 m (B) 1.5 m
(C) 3.0 m (D) need to know wave speed

2. You are listening to an "A" note played on a violin string. Let the subscript "s" refer to the violin
string and "a" refer to the air. Then
(A) fs = fa but s  a (B) fs = fa and s = a
(C) s = a but fs  fa (D) s  a and fs  fa

3. The figure (i) shows the graphical representation of the air molecules in a tube of air (length
= L) at atmospheric pressure on the absolute pressure P(x) graph. Which one of the following
pictures corresponds to the absolute pressure P(x) graph of figure (ii).

(A)
L x

(B)
L x

(C)
L x

(D)
L x

4. If a sound wave is travelling and snap shot at t = 0 is as shown in figure.

S
x

Choose snapshot of pressure variation.

P P P P
x x x x
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)

(A) For wave travelling towards right or left (i) is correct.

(B) For wave travelling towards right graph (iv) and for wave travelling towards left graph (iv) is
correct.
(C) For wave travelling towards right graph (i) and for wave travelling towards left graph (iii) is
correct
(D) For wave travelling towards right or left (ii) is correct.

Sound Wave 79
5. A sound waves is travelling towards right and its S-t graph is as shown for x = 0.
S
t

Choose CORRECT matching of the graphs

(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)

(A) Graph (i) shows P–t for x = 0 and graph (iv) shows P – x at t = 0
(B) Graph (iii) shows P–t for x = 0 and graph (iii) shows P – x at t = 0
(C) Graph (iv) shows P–t for x = 0 and graph (i) shows P – x at t = 0
(D) Graph (ii) shows P–t for x = 0 and graph (ii) shows P – x at t = 0

6. For displacement(s)-x graph shown for a sound wave, select appropriate excess pressure(p)-x
graph.
s

p p

(A) x (B) x

p p

x x
(C) (D)

7. A point source of sound is located somewhere along the x-axis. Experiments show that the
same wave front simultaneously reaches listeners at x = –8 m and x = +2.0 m.
A third listener is positioned along the positive y-axis. What is her y-coordinate (in m) if the
same wave front reaches her at the same instant as it does the first two listeners?
(A) 4 (B) 3 (C) 2 (D) 5

8. Two monatomic ideal gases 1 and 2 of molecular masses m 1 and m2 respectively are enclosed
in separate container kept at the same temperature. The ratio of the speed of sound in gas 1 to
that in gas 2 is given by
m1 m2 m1 m2
(A) (B) (C) (D)
m2 m1 m2 m1

9. A firecracker exploding on the surface of a lake is heard as two sounds a time interval t apart
by a man on a boat close to water surface. Sound travels with a speed u in water and a speed
v in air. The distance from the exploding firecracker to the boat is
uvt t(u + v) t(u − v) uvt
(A) (B) (C) (D)
u+ v uv uv u− v

80 Sound Wave
10. The speed of longitudinal wave is 100 times the speed of transverse wave in a taut brass wire.
If the Young’s modulus of brass is 1.0 × 1011 N/m2, the stress in wire is
(A) 1.0 × 107 N/m2 (B) 1.0 × 106 N/m2 (C) 1.0 × 105 N/m2 (D) 1.0 × 108 N/m2

11. The equations of S.H.M. of medium particle due to sound waves propagating in a medium are
given by s1 = 2 sin (200t) and s2 = 5 sin (150t). The ratio of average intensities of sound at
these points is:
(A) 4 : 25 (B) 9 : 100 (C) 8 : 15 (D) 64 : 225

12. If the adjacent figure shows the displacement-time curve of common medium particle for two
sound waves A and B propagating in the same medium, the ratio of their intensities I A / IB = X.
Find the value of X.
Displacement (mm)
2×10–2 A

10–2
B
1 2 3 4 time (s)
–2
–10
100 100 100 100

(A) 3 (B) 1 (C) 4 (D) 2

13. A is singing a note and at the same time B is also singing a note with 1/8th the frequency of A.
The energies of the two sounds are equal. The displacement amplitude of the note of B is:
(A) same as that of A (B) twice that of A
(C) four times that of A (D) eight times that of A

14. The intensity of sound 10 m from a tornado siren is a very loud 130 db. At what distance would
you need to be for the intensity to drop to 90 db?
(A) 14.3 m (B) 31.8 m (C) 210 m (D) 1000 m

15. A microphone is connected to an oscilloscope. The diagram shows the trace on the screen when
the microphone receives a pure note

Which trace can be obtained when a musical instrument produces a note of the same pitch but
of a different quality?

(A) (B)

(C) (D)

16. Two sound waves, having sinusoidal waveform but different wavelength and different
amplitude, are said to have
(A) the same pitch, but different quality
(B) the same pitch, but different intensity
(C) the same quality, but different intensity
(D) different intensity and quality

Sound Wave 81
17. Choose CORRECT statement?
(A) Two different acoustic musical instruments can not have same loudness
(B) Two different acoustic musical instruments can not have same pitch
(C) Two different acoustic musical instruments can not have same quality
(D) Two different acoustic musical instruments can have more than two characteristics same

18. Which of the figures, shows the pressure difference from regular atmospheric pressure for an
organ pipe of length L closed at one end, corresponds to the 1st overtone for the pipe?

(A) (B) (C) (D)

3x
19. In an organ pipe whose one end is at x = 0, the pressure is expressed by p = p0cos sin 300t
2
where x is in meter and t in sec. The organ pipe can be
(A) closed at one end, open at another with length = 0.5m
(B) open at both ends, length = 1m
(C) closed at both ends, length = 2m
2
(D) closed at one end, open at another with length = m
3

20. If l1 and l2 are the lengths of air column for the first and second resonance when a tuning fork
of frequency n is sounded on a resonance tube, then the distance of the displacement antinode
from the top end of the resonance tube is:
1 l 2 − 3l 1 l2 − l 1
(A) 2(l2 – l1) (B) (2l1 – l2) (C) (D)
2 2 2

21. A student is experimenting with resonance tube apparatus in Physics lab to find the speed of
sound at room temperature. He got resonating lengths of air column as 17 cm and 51 cm, using
tuning fork of frequency 512 Hz. Find speed of sound at room temperature and specify, whether
the side water reservoir was moved upward or downward to obtain the second resonance (51
cm)?
(A) 348 m/s, downwards (B) 348 m/s, upwards
(C) 332 m/s, downwards (D) 332 m/s, upwards

22. Two vibrating tuning forks produce progressive waves given by y 1 = 4 sin(500t) and y2 = 2
sin(506t). These tuning forks are held near the ear of a person. The person will hear
(A) 3 beats/s with intensity ratio between maxima and minima equal to 4.
(B) 3 beats/s with intensity ratio between maxima and minima equal to 9.
(C) 6 beats/s with intensity ratio between maxima and minima equal to 4.
(D) 6 beats/s with intensity ratio between maxima and minima equal to 9.

82 Sound Wave
23. Beats are heard when the A strings of two violins are played. The beat frequency decreases as
the tension in the A string of violin 1 is slowly increased. Which of the following statement is
correct?
(A) the fundamental frequency of the A string in violin 1 is less than that for violin 2
(B) the fundamental frequency of the A string in violin 1 is greater than that for violin 2
(C) the fundamental frequency of the A string in violin 1 may be greater or less than that for
violin 2 depending on the linear mass densities of the two strings.
(D) None of these

24. A source when at rest in a medium produces waves with a velocity v and a wavelength of . If
the source is set in motion with a velocity vs what would be the wavelengths produced directly
in front of the source?
 v   v   v  v
(A)   1 − s  (B)   1 + s  (C)  1 +  (D)
v  v   v s  v + vs
  

25. A source of sound S having frequency f. Wind is blowing from source to observer O with velocity
u. If speed of sound with respect to air is C, the wavelength of sound detected by O is:
C +u C −u C (C + u) C
(A) (B) (C) (D)
f f (C − u) f f

26. A train moving towards a hill at a speed of 72 km / hr sounds a whistle of frequency 500 Hz. A
wind is blowing from the hill at a speed of 36 km / hr. If the speed of sound in air is 340 m/s,
the frequency heard by a man on the hill is
(A) 532.5 Hz. (B) 565.0 Hz. (C) 516.1 Hz. (D) None of the above

27. A source is moving with constant speed vs = 20 m/sec towards a stationary observer due east
of source. Wind is blowing at the speed of 20 m/sec due to 60° north of east. The source is
generating of frequency 500 Hz. Then frequency registered by observer is: [Speed of sound in
still air = 330 m/sec.]
(A) 500 Hz (B) 532 Hz (C) 531 Hz (D) 530 Hz

28. An observer starts moving with uniform acceleration 'a' towards a stationary sound source of
frequency f. As the observer approaches the source, the apparent frequency f' heard by the
observer varies with time t as:

(A) (B) (C) (D)

29. Source and observer both start moving simultaneously from origin, one along x-axis and the
other along y-axis with speed of source = twice the speed of observer. The graph between the
apparent frequency observed by observer f and time t would approximately be:

(A) (B) (C) (D)

Sound Wave 83
30. A siren placed at a railway platform is emitting sound of frequency 5 kHz. A passenger sitting
in a moving train A records a frequency of 5.5 kHz while the train approaches the siren. During
his return journey in a different train B he records a frequency of 6.0 kHz while approaching the
same siren. The ratio of the velocity of train B to that of train A is
(A) 242/252 (B) 2 (C) 5/6 (D) 11/6

Matrix Match Type Questions

31. Figure shows a graph of particle displacement function of x at t =0 for a longitudinal wave
travelling in positive x-direction in a gas. A,B,C,D denote position of particles in space.
S

A B x
C D

Column-I Column-II
(A) point A (P) Particle velocity is in direction of wave
propagation
(B) point B (Q) Maximum magnitude of strain
(C) point C (R) Excess pressure is zero
(D) point D (S) Maximum density(T)Maximum magnitude of
excess pressure

32. Sound is travelling in a long tube towards right and the graph of excess pressure variation versus
position (at some instant) is given below.
P Q R S T
Wave propagation

p

Match velocities in column-I with column-II. P,Q,R,S,T are medium particles inside the tube.
Column-I Column-II
(A) velocity is towards right (P) P
(B) velocity is towards left (Q) Q
(C) velocity is zero (R) R
(D) Speed is maximum (S) S
(T) T

ANSWER KEY

1. (B) 2. (A) 3. (B) 4. (B) 5. (D) 6. (A) 7. (A)

8. (B) 9. (D) 10. (A) 11. (D) 12. (B) 13. (D) 14. (D)
15. (B) 16. (C) 17. (C) 18. (A) 19. (C) 20. (C) 21. (A)
22. (B) 23. (A) 24. (A) 25. (A) 26. (A) 27. (C) 28. (A)
29. (B) 30. (B)
31. (A)-PQST; (B)-R; (C)-QT; (D)-R 32. (A)-P; (B)-RS; (C)-QT; (D)-PR

84 Sound Wave
 Objective Exercise - II

Single Correct Type Questions

1. Which of the following is the equation of a spherical wave

(A) S = S0 sin (Kx - t) (B) S = S0 cos (Kx - t)
(C) S = (S0/x) sin (t – Kx) (D) S = (S0/x2) sin (t – Kx)

2. In a resonance tube experiment, an 80 cm air column is in resonance with a turning fork in

first overtone. Which equation can represent correct pressure variation in the air column (x =
0 is the top point of the tube, neglect end correction, speed of sound = 320 m/sec)
15 15
(A) A sin x cos 600t (B) A cos x sin 600 t
8 8
15 15
(C) A cos x sin 300 t (D) A sin x sin 300 t
8 8

3. Four open organ pipes of different lengths and different gases at same temperature as shown
in figure. Let fA, fB, fC and fD be their fundamental frequencies then: [Take = 7/5]
H2
N2
O2
l 2l/3 CO2
l/2
l/3

(A) (B) (C) (D)

(A) fA/fB = 2 (B) fB/fC = 72 28 (C) fC/fD = 11 28 (D) fD/fA = 76 11

4. In the experiment for the determination of the speed of sound in air using the resonance
column method, the length of the air column that resonates in the fundamental mode, with a
turning fork is 0.1 m. When this length is changed to 0.35 m, the same tuning fork resonates
with the first overtone. The end correction is:
(A) 0.025 m (B) 0.012 m (C) 0.05 m (D) 0.024 m

5. Two waves with similar frequencies are added. The resulting waveform oscillates with the
average frequency and with an oscillating amplitude that changes with a frequency equal to
the difference between the original frequencies. These oscillations in the amplitude are
known as beats. The traces show the resulting waveforms that occur when two different pairs
of waves are added. Graph is for the same time interval in both cases, which of the following
statements is TRUE?

(A) On average, the waves on the left had higher frequencies, but the difference between
frequencies less
(B) On average, the waves on the right had higher frequencies, but the difference between
frequencies less
(C) On average, the waves on the left had higher frequencies, but the difference between
frequencies more
(D) On average, the waves on the right had higher frequencies, but the difference between
frequencies more

Sound Wave 85
One or More Than One Correct Type Questions

6. The particle displacement of a travelling longitudinal wave is represented by S = S (x, t). The
midpoints of a compression zone and an adjacent rarefaction zone are represented by the
letter ‘C’ and ‘R’. Which of the following is true?
S S
(A) =
x C x R

S S
(B) = =0
t C t R

S
(C) (pressure)C – (pressure)R = 2 x Bulk modulus of air
x C
(D) Particles of air are stationary mid-way between ‘C’ and ‘R’

7. Which of the following statements are wrong about the velocity of sound in air:
(A) decreases with increases in temperature
(B) increases with decrease in temperature
(C) decreases as humidity increases
(D) independent of density of air

8. Two tuning forks of frequency 250 Hz and 256 Hz produce beats. If a maximum of intensity is
ob-served just now, after how much time the minimum is observed at the same place?
1 1
(A) sec. (B) sec.
18 4
1 1
(C) sec. (D) sec.
3 12

9. A car moves towards a hill with speed vc. It blows a horn of frequency f which is heard by an
observer following the car with speed v0. The speed of sound in air is v.
v
(A) the wavelength of sound reaching the hill is
f
v − vc
(B) the wavelength of sound reaching the hill is
f
 v + v0 
(C) the beat frequency observed by the observer is   f
 v − vc 
2vc (v + v0 )f
(D) the beat frequency observed by the observer is
v 2 − v c2

86 Sound Wave
Compression Type Questions
Paragraph for Q. 10 to 14
When a sound wave enters the ear, it sets the eardrum into oscillation, which in turn causes
oscillation of 3 tiny bones in the middle ear called ossicles. This oscillation is finally transmitted
to the fluid filled in inner portion of the ear termed as inner ear, the motion of the fluid disturbs
hair cells within the inner ear which transmit nerve impulses to the brain with the information
that a sound is present. The three bones present in the middle ear are named as hammer, anvil
and stirrup. Out of these the stirrup is the smallest one and this only connects the middle ear
to inner ear as shown in the figure below. The area of stirrup and its extent of connection with
the inner ear lomits the sensitivity of the human ear. Consider a person’s ear whose moving
part of the eardrum has an area of about 50 mm2 and the area of stirrup is about 5mm2. The
mass of ossicles is negligible. As a result, force exerted by sound wave in air on eardrum and
ossicles is same as the force exerted by ossicles on the inner ear. Consider a sound wave having
maximum pressure fluctuation of 4 × 10–2 Pa from its normal equilibrium pressure value which
is equal to 105 Pa. Frequency of sound wave is 1200 Hz.
Data: Velocity of sound wave in air is 332 m/s. Velocity of sound wave in fluid (present in
innerear) is 1500 m/s. Bulk modulus of air is 1.42 × 105 Pa. Bulk modulus of fluid is 2.18 × 109 Pa.

10. Find the pressure amplitude of given sound wave in the fluid of inner ear
(A) 0.03 Pa (B) 0.04 Pa (C) 0.3 Pa (D) 0.4 Pa

11. Find the displacement amplitude of given sound wave in the fluid of inner ear
(A) 4.4 × 10–11 m (B) 8 × 1011 m (C) 3.65 × 10–11 m (D) 8.1 × 10–12 m

12. If the person is using an hearing aid, which increase the sound intensity level by 30 dB, then by
what factor the intensity of given sound wave change as perceived by inner ear?
(A) 1000 (B) 100
(C) 10,000 (D) None of these

13. This person (without hearing aid machine) is sitting inside a busy restaurant where average
sound intensity is 3.2 × 10–5 W/m2. How much energy in the form of sound is taken up by the
person in his meal time of 1h?
(A) 1.2 × 10–5 J (B) 1.8 × 10–4 J
(C) 2.4 × 10 J
–5
(D) 3.6 × 10–4 J

14. With respect to information provided above, mark the correct statement:
(A) The person will hear more intense sound, if area of stirrup is reduced.
(B) The person will hear more intense sound, if area of stirrup is increased
(C) If mass of ossicles is not negligible, then intensity of sound heard by the person increases.
(D) If mass of ossicles is not negligible, then intensity of sound heart by the person remains
same

Sound Wave 87
 Paragraph for Q. 15 to 17
A metallic rod of length 1m has one end free and other end rigidly clamped. Longitudinal
stationary waves are set up in the rod in such a way that there are total six antinodes present
along the rod. The amplitude of an antinode is 4 × 10 –6 m. Young's modulus and density of the
rod are 6.4 × 1010 N/m2 and 4 × 103 Kg/m3 respectively. Consider the free end to be at origin and
at t = 0 particles at free end are at positive extreme.

15. The equation describing displacements of particles about their mean positions is
 11 
(A) s = 4×10–6 cos  x  cos (22×103 t)
 2 
 11 
(B) s = 4×10–6 cos  x  sin (22×103 t)
 2 
(C) s = 4×10–6 cos (5x) cos (20×103 t)
(D) s = 4×10–6 cos (5x) sin (20×103 t)

16. The equation describing stress developed in the rod is

 11 
(A) 140.8 ×104 cos  x +   cos (22 × 103 t)
 2 
 11 
(B) 140.8 ×104 sin  x +   cos (22 × 103 t)
2 
(C) 128 ×104 cos(5x + ) cos (20 × 103 t)
(D) 128 ×104 sin(5x + ) cos (20 × 103 t)

17. The magnitude of strain at midpoint of the rod at t= 1 sec is

(A) 11 3  10−6 (B) 11 2  10−6
(C) 10 3  10−6 (D) 10 2  10−6

Paragraph for Q. 18 to 20
In an organ pipe (may be closed or open) of length 1m standing wave is setup, whose equation
2
for longitudinal displacement is given by  = (0.1 mm) cos (y) cos (400) t where y is
0.8
measured from the top of the tube in meters and t in second.

18. The upper end and the lower ends of the tube are respectively:
(A) open – closed (B) closed – open
(C) open – open (D) closed – closed

19. The air column is vibrating in

(A) First overtone (B) Second overtone
(C) Third harmonic (D) Fundamental mode

88 Sound Wave
20. Equation of the standing wave in terms of excess pressure is (Bulk modulus of air B = 5 × 10 5
N/m2)
2
(A) Pex =(125N/m2) sin (y) cos (400 t)
0.8
2
(B) Pex = (125  N/m2) cos (y) sin (400 t)
0.8
2
(C) Pex = (225 N/m2) sin (y) cos (200 t)
0.8
2
(D) Pex = (225 N/m2) cos (y) sin (200 t)
0.8

Paragraph for Q. 21 to 24
A source emitting a sound wave at a certain frequency moves with constant speed along an
x-axis figure (a). The source moves directly towards a stationary detector A and directly away
from another stationary detector B. The superimposed three plots of figure (b) indicate the
pressure function P(x) of the sound wave as measured by detector A, by detector B, and by
someone (c) in the rest frame of the source.

21. Which of the following plot corresponds to the measurement done by detector A?
(A) 1 (B) 2
(C) 3 (D) These plots are not possible

22. The plot corresponding to the measurement done by detector B is

(A) 1 (B) 2
(C) 3 (D) These plots are not possible

23. The plot corresponding to the measurement done by the detector C is

(A) 1 (B) 2
(C) 3 (D) These plots are not possible

24. Now the source stops and begins to move along y-axis with same speed, the plot which
corresponds to the measurement of B now is
(A) 1 (B) 2
(C) 3 (D) none of these

Sound Wave 89
Matrix Match Type Questions

25. Consider a large plane diaphragm ‘S’ emitting sound and a detector ‘O’. The diagram shows
plane wave fronts for the sound wave travelling in air towards right when source, observer
and medium are at rest. AA' and BB' are fixed imaginary planes. Column-I describes about the
motion of source, observer or medium and column-II describes various effects. Match them
correctly.
A B

O
S A' B'

Column-I Column-II
(A) Source starts moving towards right (P) Distance between any two wave fronts
will increase.
(B) Air starts moving towards right (Q) Distance between any two wave fronts
will decrease.
(C) Observer and source both move (R) The time needed by sound to move from
towards left with same speed. plane AA' to BB' will increase.
(D) Source and medium (air) both move (S) The time needed by sound to move from
towards right with same speed. plane AA' to BB' will decrease.
(T) Frequency received by observer increases.

ANSWER KEY

1. (C) 2. (A) 3. (C) 4. (A) 5. (B) 6. (ACD) 7. (ABCD)

8. (BD) 9. (BD) 10. (D) 11. (C) 12. (A) 13. (A) 14. (A)
15. (A) 16. (B) 17. (B) 18. (A) 19. (B) 20. (A) 21. (A)
22. (B) 23. (C) 24. (D) 25. (A)-QT; (B)-PS; (C)-P; (D)-ST

90 Sound Wave
 Subjective Exercise - I

1. Find the intensity of sound wave whose frequency is 250 Hz. The displacement amplitude of
particles of the medium at this position is 1 × 10–8 m. The density of the medium is 1 kg/m3, bulk
modulus of elasticity of the medium is 400 N/m2.

2. In a mixture of gases, the average number of degrees of freedom per molecule is 6. The rms
speed of the molecules of the gas is c. Find the velocity of sound in the gas.

3. The loudness level at a distance R from a long linear source of sound is found to be 40dB. At
this point, the amplitude of oscillations of air molecules is 0.01 cm. Then find the loudness level
& amplitude at a point located at a distance '10R' from the source.

4. The first overtone of a pipe closed at one end resonates with the third harmonic of a string
fixed at its ends. The ratio of the speed of sound to the speed of transverse wave travelling on
the string is 2 :1. Find the ratio of the length of pipe to the length of string.

5. In a resonance-column experiment, a long tube, open at the top, is clamped vertically. By a

separate device, water level inside the tube can be moved up or down. The section of the tube
from the open end to the water level act as a closed organ pipe. A vibrating tuning fork is held
above the open end, first and the second resonances occur when the water level is 24.1 cm and
74.1 cm respectively below the open end. Find the diameter of the tube.

6. A tuning fork of frequency 480 Hz resonates with a tube closed at one end of length, 16 cm and
diameter 5 cm in fundamental mode. Calculate velocity of sound in air.

7. An open organ pipe filled with air has a fundamental frequency 500Hz. The first harmonic of
another organ pipe closed at one end and filled with carbon dioxide has the same frequency as
that of the first harmonic of the open organ pipe. Calculate the length of each pipe. Assume
that the velocity of sound in air and in carbondioxide to be 330 and 264 m/s respectively.

8. A stretched uniform wire of a sonometer between two fixed knife edges, when vibrates in its
second harmonic gives 1 beat per second with a vibrating tuning fork of frequency 200 Hz. Find
the percentage change in the tension of the wire to be in unison with the tuning fork.

9. A steel rod having a length of 1 m is fastened at its middle. Assuming young’s modulus to be
2 × 1011Pa, and density to be 8 gm/cm3 find the fundamental frequency of the longitudinal
vibration and frequency of first overtone.

10. A metal rod of length l = 100 cm is clamped at two points. Distance of each clamp from nearer
end is a = 30cm. If density and Young’s modulus of elasticity of rod material are  = 9000
kg m–3 and Y = 144 GPa respectively, calculate minimum and next higher frequency of natural
longitudinal oscillations of the rod.

Sound Wave 91
11. Two narrow cylindrical pipes A and B have the same length. Pipe A is open at both ends and is
filled with a monoatomic gas of molar mass MA. Pipe B is open at one end and closed at the
other end, and is filled with a diatomic gas of molar mass MB. Both gases are at the same
temperature.
(a) If the frequency of the second harmonic of the fundamental mode in pipe A is equal to the
frequency of the third harmonic of the fundamental mode in pipe B, determine the value of
MA/MB.
(b) Now the open end of pipe B is also closed (so that the pipe is closed at both ends). Find
the ratio of the fundamental frequency in pipe A to that in pipe B.

12. A tube of a certain diameter and of length 48 cm is open at both ends. Its fundamental
frequency of resonance is found to be 320 Hz. The velocity of sound in air is 320m/sec. Estimate
the diameter of the tube.

13. A, B and C are three tuning forks. Frequency of A is 350Hz. Beats produced by A and B are 5
per second and by B and C are 4 per second. When a wax is put on A beat frequency between
A and B is 2Hz and between A and C is 6Hz. Then, find the frequency of B and C respectively.

14. Two tuning forks A and B lying on opposite sides of observer ‘O’ and of natural frequency 85 Hz
move with velocity 10 m/s relative to stationary observer O. Fork A moves away from the
observer while the fork B moves towards him. A wind with a speed 10 m/s is blowing in the
direction of motion of fork A. Find the beat frequency measured by the observer in Hz. [Take
speed of sound in air as 340 m/s]

15. A car is moving towards a huge wall with a speed = c/10, where c = speed of sound in still air.
A wind is also blowing parallel to the velocity of the car in the same direction and with the
same speed. If the car sounds a horn of frequency f, then what is the frequency of the reflected
sound of the horn heard by driver of the car?

16. A train of length l is moving with a constant speed v along a circular track of radius R, the
engine of the train emits a whistle of frequency f. Find the frequency heard by a guard at the
rear end of the train. Make suitable assumption.

17. A plane sound wave of frequency f0 and wavelength 0 travels horizontally toward the right. It
strikes and is reflected from a large, rigid, vertical plane surface, perpendicular to the direction
of propagation of the wave and moving towards the left with a speed v.
(a) How many positive wave crests strike the surface in a time interval t?
(b) At the end of this time interval, how far to the left of the surface is the wave that was
reflected at the beginning of the time interval?
(c) What is the wavelength of the reflected waves, in terms of 0?
(d) What is the frequency, in terms of f0?
(e) A listener is at rest at the left of the moving surface. Describe the sensation of sound that
he hears as a result of the combined effect of the incident and reflected wave trains.

92 Sound Wave
18. The equation of a longitudinal standing wave due to superposition of the progressive waves
produced by two sources of sound is s = – 20 sin 10 x sin 100 t where s is the displacement
from mean position measured in mm; x is in metres and t in seconds. The specific gravity of
the medium is 10–3. Find
(a) Wavelength, frequency and velocity of the progressive waves.
(b) Bulk modulus of the medium and the pressure amplitude.
(c) Minimum distance between pressure antinode and the displacement antinode.

19. A source of sound of frequency 592 Hz starts moving towards listener situated at 904 m with
uniform acceleration 2 m/s2. If velocity of sound is 300m/s find frequency heard by listener at
t = 5s.

20. A sound source is at rest and emits a sound of frequency f 0=250 Hz for some time. The driver
of the car which is moving towards the source at a speed of v, detect this sound the frequency
of which is f '= 263 Hz, and he hears the sound exactly as long as he covers a distance of
s = 82 m, along a straight line. (a) What is the speed of the car? (b) For how long did the sound
source emit the sound (consider speed of sound as 320 m/s)?

ANSWER KEY

2  10−9 2c
1. W/m2 2. 3. 30 dB, 10 10 m 4. 1:1 5. 3 cm
4 3
6. 336 m/s 7. 33 cm and 13.2 cm 8. 1%
3
9. 2.5 kHz, 7.5 kHz 10. 10 kHz, 30 kHz 11. (a) 2.116; (b)
4
12. 3.33 cm 13. 345, 341 Hz 14. 5
11f
15. 16. f
9
 v + 0f0   0f0 − v   0f0 + v  2vf0
17. (a)   t ; (b) (0f0 − v)t ; (c) 0   ; (d) f0   ; (e)
  0  
 00f + v  
 00f − v   f −v
0 0

18. (a) 1/5 m, 50 Hz, 10 m/s; (b) 100 Pa, 10 Pa, (c) 1/20 m
19. 600 Hz 20. (a) 16.64 m/s.; (b) 5.18 s5.2s

Sound Wave 93
 Subjective Exercise - II

1. The displacement of the medium in a sound wave is given by the equation; y1 = A cos (ax + bt)
where A, a & b are positive constants. The wave is reflected by an obstacle situated at x = 0.
The intensity of the reflected wave is 0.64 times that of the incident wave.
(a) what are the wavelength & frequency of the incident wave.
(b) write the equation for the reflected wave.
(c) in the resultant wave formed after reflection, find the maximum & minimum values of the
particle speeds in the medium.

2. The air column in a pipe closed at one end and open to atmosphere at the other end is made
to vibrate in its fifth harmonic by a tuning fork of frequency 470 Hz. The length of air column is
15
m. Neglect end correction. Let p0 denote the maximum gauge pressure at the closed end
16
(a) Find the speed of sound in air.
(b) Draw the graph of pressure amplitude vs distance from the open end of the tube.
p0
(c) Find the points where the maximum gauge pressure is .
2

3. A cylinder ABC consists of two chambers 1 and 2 which contains two different gases. The wall
C is rigid but the walls A and B are thin diaphragms. A vibrating tuning fork approaches the wall
A with velocity u = 30 m/s and air columns in chamber 1 and 2 vibrates with minimum frequency
such that there is node (displacement) at B and antinode (displacement) at A. Find

A B C
1 2
v2=300m/s
v1=1100m/s

0.5m 1.0m

(i) The fundamental frequency of air column.

(ii) Find the frequency of tuning fork.
Assume velocity of sound in the first and second chamber be 1100 m/s and 300 m/s respectively.
Velocity of sound in air 330 m/s.

4. A sonic source is moving in a circle of radius 10 m, emitting sound of frequency 1000 Hz. It is
moving with a constant speed = 110 m/s, and speed of sound in air = 330 m/s. A stationary
detector is located at a point 20 m from the centre of the circular path of the source, in the
same plane. Suppose the detector which can detect only waves whose frequency is less than
1000 Hz remain sidle during a time interval t, in one revolution of the source. Find t / T, where
T = time period of revolution of source.

94 Sound Wave
5. A source of sound of frequency f is dropped from rest from a height h above the ground. An
observer O1 stands on the ground and another observer O2 stands inside water at a depth d
from the ground. Both O1 and O2 are vertically below the source. The velocity of sound in water
is 4V and that in air is V. Find
(a) The frequency of the sound detected by O1 and O2 corresponding to the sound emitted by
the source initially.
(b) The frequency detected by both O1 and O2 corresponding to the sound emitted by the source
at height h/2 from the ground.

6. A boat is travelling in a river with a speed of 10 m/s along the stream flowing with a speed 2
m/s. From this boat, a sound transmitter is lowered into the river through a rigid support. The
wavelength of the sound emitted from the transmitter inside the water is 14.45 mm. Assume
that attenuation of sound in water and air is negligible.
(a) What will be the frequency detected by a receiver kept inside the river downstream?
(b) The transmitter and the receiver are now pulled up into air. The air is blowing with a speed
5 m/sec in the direction opposite the river stream. Determine the frequency of the sound
detected by the receiver.
(Temperature of the air and water = 20°C; Density of river water = 103 Kg/m3; Bulk modulus of
the water = 2.088 × 109 Pa; Gas constant R = 8.31 J/mol-K; Mean molecular mass of air = 28.8
× 10–3 kg/mol; CP/CV for air = 1.4)
Note: Boat velocity is with respect to ground & receiver is stationary w.r.t. ground.

7. The air column in a pipe closed at one end is made to vibrate in its second overtone by a tuning
fork of frequency 440 Hz. The speed of sound in air is 330 ms –1. End corrections may be
neglected. Let P0 denote the mean pressure at any point in the pipe & P0 the maximum
amplitude of pressure variation.
(i) Find the length L of the air column.
(ii) What is the amplitude of pressure variation at the middle of the column?
(iii) What are the maximum & minimum pressures at the open end of the pipe.
(iv) What are the maximum & minimum pressures at the closed end of the pipe?

8. AB is a cylinder of length 1m fitted a thin flexible diaphragm C at the middle and other thin
flexible diaphragms A and B at the ends. The portions AC and BC contain hydrogen and oxygen
gases respectively. The diaphragms A and B are set into vibrations of same frequency. What is
the minimum frequency of these vibration for which diaphragm C is a node? (Under the
conditions of experiment vH = 1100 m/s, v O = 300 m/s).
2 2

Sound Wave 95
 ANSWER KEY

1. (a) 2 /a, b/2; (b) y2 = ± 0.8 A cos (ax – bt); (c) max.=1.8 b A, min. = 0,
P
P0 l 5l 7l 11l 13l
2. (a) 352.5 m/s; (b) P0/2 ; (c) , , , ,
L
x 15 15 15 15 15
3. 1650 Hz, 1500 Hz
4. (3–2)/6
2vf 2 2vf 2
5. (a) f2 = f1 = (b) f1 = f2 =
2vf − g 2(v − gh)f − g
6. (a) 100696 Hz; (b) 103038 Hz
15 P0
7. (i) L = m ; (ii) ; (iii) Pmax = Pmin =P0; (iv) Pmax= P0+ P0, Pmin= P0– P0
16 2
8. 1650 Hz

96 Sound Wave
 JEE-Main (Previous Year Questions)

1. A train is moving on a straight track with speed 20 ms–1. It is blowing its whistle at the frequency
of 1000 Hz. The percentage change in the frequency heard by a person standing near the track
as the train passes him is (speed of sound = 320 ms –1) close to: [JEE(Main)-2015]
(1) 12% (2) 18 % (3) 24% (4) 6%

2. A pipe open at both ends has a fundamental frequency ƒ in air. The pipe is dipped vertically in
water so that half of it is in water. The fundamental frequency of the air column is now:
[JEE(Main)-2017]
3f f
(1) (2) 2f (3) f (4)
4 2

3. An observer is moving with half the speed of light towards a stationary microwave source
emitting waves at frequency 10 GHz. What is the frequency of the microwave measured by the
observer? (speed of light = 3 × 108 ms–1) [JEE(Main)-2017]
(1) 10.1 GHz (2) 12.1 GHz (3) 17.3 GHz (4) 15.3 GHz

4. A granite rod of 60 cm length is clamped at its middle point and is set into longitudinal
vibrations. the density of granite is 2.7 × 103 kg/m3 and its Young’s modulus is 9.27 × 1010 Pa.
What will be the fundamental frequency of the longitudinal vibrations? [JEE(Main)-2018]
(1) 7.5 kHz (2) 5 kHz (3) 2.5 kHz (4) 10kHz

5. A train moves towards a stationary observer with speed 34 m/s. The train sounds a whistle and
its frequency registered by the observer is f1. If the speed of the train is reduced to 17 m/s, the
frequency registered is f2. If speed of sound is 340 m/s, then the ratio f1/f2 is:[JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 20/19 (2) 19/18 (3) 18/17 (4) 21/20

6. A musician using an open flute of length 50 cm produces second harmonic sound waves. A
person runs towards the musician from another end of a hall at a speed of 10 km/h. If the wave
speed is 330 m/s, the frequency heard by the running person shall be close to:
[JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 666 Hz (2) 500 Hz (3) 753 Hz (4) 333 Hz

7. A closed organ pipe has a fundamental frequency of 1.5 kHz. The number of overtones that can
be distinctly heard by a person with this organ pipe will be: (Assume that the highest frequency
a person can hear is 20,000 Hz) [JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 6 (2) 5 (3) 4 (4) 7

8. A person standing on an open ground hears the sound of a jet aeroplane, coming from north at
an angle 60° with ground level. But he finds the aeroplane right vertically above his position. If
 is the speed of sound, speed of the plane is: [JEE(Main)-2019]
3 2 
(1)  (2) (3)  (4)
2 3 2

Sound Wave 97
9. A resonance tube is old and has jagged end. It is still used in the laboratory to determine velocity
of sound in air. A tuning fork of frequency 512 Hz produces first resonance when the tube is
filled with water to a mark 11 cm below a reference mark, near the open end of the tube. The
experiment is repeated with another fork of frequency 256 Hz which produces first resonance
when water reaches a mark 27 cm below the reference mark. The velocity of sound in air,
obtained in the experiment, is close to: [JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 322ms –1
(2) 328ms –1
(3) 335ms –1
(4) 341ms –1

10. The pressure wave, P = 0.01sin[1000t –3x] Nm–2, corresponds to the sound produce by a vibrating
blade on a day when atmospheric temperature is 0C. On some other day when temperature is
T, the speed of sound produced by the same blade and at the same frequency is found to be
336 ms–1. Approximate value of T is: [JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 4C (2) 12C (3) 11C (4) 15C

11. Two cars A and B are moving away from each other in opposite directions. Both the cars are
moving with a speed of 20 ms–1 with respect to the ground. If an observer in car A detects a
frequency 2000 Hz of the sound coming from car B, what is the natural frequency of the sound
source in car B? (speed of sound in air = 340 ms –1): [JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 2300 Hz (2) 20630 Hz (3) 2150 Hz (4) 2250 Hz

12. A stationary source emits sound waves of frequency 500 Hz. Two observers moving along a line
passing through the source detect sound to be of frequencies 400 Hz and 530 Hz, their
respective speeds are, in ms–1, [JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 12,18 (2) 16,14 (3) 12,16 (4) 8,18

13. The correct figure that shows, schematically, the wave pattern produced by superposition of
two waves of frequencies 9 Hz and 11 Hz, is: [JEE(Main)-2019]

(1) (2)

(3) (4)

14. A source of sound S is moving with a velocity of 50 m/s towards a stationary observer. The
observer measures the frequency of the source as 1000 Hz. What will be the apparent frequency
of the source when it is moving away from the observer after crossing him? (Take velocity of
sound in air is 350 m/s) [JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 1143 Hz (2) 750 Hz (3) 857 Hz (4) 807 Hz

98 Sound Wave
15. A submarine (A) travelling at 18 km/hr is being chased along the line of its velocity by another
submarine (B) travelling at 27 km/hr. B sends a sonar signal of 500 Hz to detect A and receives
a reflected sound of frequency . The value of  is close to:
(Speed of sound in water = 1500 ms–1) [JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 507 Hz (2) 499 Hz (3) 504 Hz (4) 502 Hz

16. A small speaker delivers 2 W of audio output. At what distance from the speaker will one detect
120 dB intensity sound? [Given reference intensity of sound as 10 –12 W/m2] [JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 10 cm (2) 40 cm (3) 30 cm (4) 20 cm

17. Two sources of sound S1, and S2 produce sound waves of same frequency 660 Hz. A listener is
moving from source S1 towards S2, with a constant speed u m/s and he hears 10 beats/s. The
velocity of sound is 330 m/s. Then, u equals: [JEE(Main)-2019]
(1) 10.0 m/s (2) 2.5 m/s (3) 15.0 m/s (4) 5.5 m/s

18. A stationary observer receives sound from two identical tuning forks, one of which approaches
and the other one recedes with the same speed (much less than the speed of sound). The
observer hears 2 beats/sec. The oscillation frequency of each tuning fork is 0 = 1400 Hz and
the velocity of sound in air is 350 m/s. The speed of each tuning fork is close to:
[JEE(Main)-2020]
1 1 1
(1) m/ s (2) m/s (3) 1m/s (4) m/s
8 2 4

19. A one metre long (both ends open) organ pipe is kept in a gas that has double the density of
air at STP. Assuming the speed of sound in air at STP is 300 m/s, the frequency difference
between the fundamental and second harmonic of this pipe is ________ Hz. [JEE(Main)-2020]

20. The driver of a bus approaching a big wall notices that the frequency of his bus's horn changes
from 420 Hz to 490 Hz, when he hears it after it gets reflected from the wall. Find the speed
of the bus if speed of the sound is 330 ms–1. [JEE(Main)-2020]
(1) 91 kmh–1 (2) 71 kmh–1 (3) 81 kmh–1 (4) 61 kmh–1

21. In a resonance tube experiment, when the tube is filled with water up to height of 17.0 cm from
bottom, it resonates with a given tuning fork. When the water level is raised, the next resonance
with the same tuning fork occurs at a height of 24.5 cm. If the velocity of sound in air is 330
m/s, the tuning fork frequency is: [JEE(Main)-2020]
(1) 1100 Hz (2) 3300 Hz (3) 2200 Hz (4) 550 Hz

22. Assume that the displacement (s) of air is proportional to the pressure difference (p) created
by a sound wave. Displacement (s) further depends on the speed of sound (v), density of air ()
and the frequency (f). If p~10Pa, v~300 m/s, p~1 kg/m3 and f~1000 Hz, then s will be the order
of (take multiplicative constant to be 1) [JEE(Main)-2020]
3 1
(1) 10 mm (2) mm (3) 1 m (4) mm
100 10

Sound Wave 99
 23. Two coherent sources of sound, S1 and S2, produce sound waves of the same wavelength,  = 1
m, in phase. S1 and S2 are placed 1.5 m apart (see fig.). A listener, located at L, directly in front
of S2 finds that the intensity is at a minimum when he is 2m away from S2. The listener moves
away from S1, keeping his distance from S2 fixed. The adjacent maximum of intensity is observed
when the listener is at a distance d from S1. Then, d is: [JEE(Main)-2020]

(1) 12m (2) 3m (3) 5m (4) 2m

24. A sound source S is moving along a straight track with speed v, and is emitting sound of
frequency v0 (see figure). An observer is standing at a finite distance, at the point O, from the
track. The time variation of frequency heard by the observer is best represented by:
(t0 represents the instant when the distance between the source and observer is minimum)
[JEE(Main)-2020]

(1) (2)

(3) (4)

25. Two cars are approaching each other at an equal speed of 7.32 km/hr. When they see each
other, both blow horns having frequency of 676 Hz. The beat frequency heard by each driver
will be______ Hz. [Velocity of sound in air is 340 m/s] [JEE(Main)-2021]

26. A student is performing the experiment of resonance column. The diameter of the column tube
is 6 cm. The frequency of the tuning fork is 504 Hz. Speed of the sound at the given temperature
is 336 m/s. The zero of the meter scale coincides with the top end of the resonance column
tube. The reading of the water level in the column when the first resonance occurs is:
[JEE(Main)-2021]
(1) 13 cm (2) 16.6 cm (3) 18.4 cm (4) 14.8 cm

27. A tuning fork A of unknown frequency produces 5 beat/s with a fork of known frequency 340
Hz. When fork A is filed, the beat frequency decreases to 2 beat/s. What is the frequency of
fork A? [JEE(Main)-2021]
(1) 342 Hz (2) 345 Hz (3) 335 Hz (4) 338 Hz

100 Sound Wave

28. A closed organ pipe of length L and an open organ pipe contain gases of densities 1 and 2
respectively. The compressibility of gases are equal in both the pipes. Both the pipes are

x 
vibrating in their first overtone with same frequency. The length of the open pipe is L 1
3 2
where x is ______. (Round off to the Nearest integer) [JEE(Main)-2021]

29. With what speed should a galaxy move outward with respect to earth so that the sodium-D line
at wavelength 5890 Å is observed at 5896 Å? [JEE(Main)-2021]
(1) 306 km/sec (2) 322 km/sec
(3) 296 km/sec (4) 336 km/sec

30. A tuning fork is vibrating at 250 Hz. The length of the shortest closed organ pipe that will
resonate with the tuning fork will be _________cm. [JEE(Main)-2021]
(Take speed of sound in air as 340 ms )–1

31. The first overtone frequency of an open organ pipe is equal to the fundamental frequency of a
closed organ pipe. If the length of the closed organ pipe is 20 cm. The length of the open organ
pipe is ___ cm. [JEE(Main)-2022]

32. A set of 20 tuning forks is arranged in a series of increasing frequencies. If each fork gives 4
beats with respect to the preceding fork and the frequency of the last fork is twice the
frequency of the first, then the frequency of last fork is ____ Hz. [JEE(Main)-2022]

33. An observer moves towards a stationary source of sound with a velocity equal to one-fifth of
the velocity of sound. The percentage change in the frequency will be: [JEE(Main)-2022]
(1) 20% (2) 10% (3) 5% (4) 0%

34. The velocity of sound in a gas, in which two wavelengths 4.08m and 4.16m produce 40 beats in
12s, will be: [JEE(Main)-2022]
(1) 282.8 ms –1
(2) 175.5 ms –1

(3) 353.6 ms –1
(4) 707.2 ms–1

35. In an experiment to determine the velocity of sound in air at room temperature, a resonance is
observed when the air column has a length of 20.0 cm for a tuning fork of frequency 400 Hz is
used. The velocity of the sound at room temperature is 336 ms –1. The third resonance is
observed when the air column has a length of _____ cm. [JEE(Main)-2022]

36. An observer is riding on a bicycle and moving towards a hill at 18 kmh–1. He hears a sound from
a source at some distance behind him directly as well as after its reflection from the hill. If the
original frequency of the sound as emitted by source is 640 Hz and velocity of the sound in air
is 320 m/s, the beat frequency between the two sounds heard by observer will be ______ Hz.
[JEE(Main)-2022]

Sound Wave 101

 37. When a car is approaching the observer, the frequency of horn is 100 Hz. After passing the
x
observer, it is 50Hz. If the observer moves with the car, the frequency will be Hz where
3
x = _______. [JEE(Main)-2022]

38. The frequency of echo will be ______ Hz if the train blowing a whistle of frequency 320 Hz is
moving with a velocity of 36 km/h towards a hill from which an echo is heard by the train driver.
Velocity of sound in air is 330 m/s. [JEE(Main)-2022]

ANSWER KEY

1. (1) 2. (3) 3. (3) 4. (2) 5. (2) 6. (1) 7. (4)

8. (4) 9. (2) 10. (1) 11. (4) 12. (1) 13. (4) 14. (2)
15. (4) 16. (2) 17. (2) 18. (4) 19. 106.00 to 107.20 20. (1)
21. (3) 22. (2) 23. (2) 24. (4) 25. 8 26. (4) 27. (3)
28. 4 29. (1) 30. 34 31. 80 32. 152 33. (1) 34. (4)
35. 104 36. 20 37. 200 38. 340

102 Sound Wave

 JEE-Advanced (Previous Year Questions)

1. A student is performing an experiment using a resonance column and a tuning fork of frequency
244 s–1. He is told that the air in the tube has been replaced by another gas (assume that the
column remains filled with the gas). If the minimum height at which resonance occurs is (0.350
0.005)m, the gas in the tube is (Useful information: 167RT = 640J1/2mole−1/2 ; 140RT = 50 J1/2
10
mole–1/2. The molar masses M in grams are given in the options. Take the values of 10M for
M
each gas as given there.) [JEE(Advanced)-2014]
 10 7   10 3 
(A) Neon  M = 20, =  (B) Nitrogen  M = 28, = 
 20 10   20 5 
 
 10 9  10 17 
(C) Oxygen  M = 32, =  (D) Argon  M = 36, = 
 20 16   36 32 
 

2. Two loudspeakers M and N are located 20 m apart and emit sound at frequencies 118 Hz and
121 Hz, respectively. A car is initially at a point P, 1800 m away from the midpoint Q of the line
MN and moves towards Q constantly at 60 km/hr along the perpendicular bisector of MN. It
crosses Q and eventually reaches a point R, 1800 m away from Q. Let v(t) represent the beat
frequency measured by a person sitting in the car at time t. Let vP, vQ and vR be the beat
frequencies measured at locations P, Q and R, respectively. The speed of sound in air is
330 m s–1. Which of the following statement(s) is (are) true regarding the sound heard by the
person? [JEE(Advanced)-2016]
(A) vP + vR = 2vQ
(B) The rate of change in beat frequency is maximum when the car passes through Q
(C) The plot below represents schematically the variation of beat frequency with time
v(t)

P
Q
vQ

R
t
(D) The plot below represents schematically the variation of beat frequency with time
v(t)
P

vQ Q
R
t

3. A stationary source emits sound of frequency f0 = 492 Hz. The sound is reflected by a large car
approaching the source with a speed of 2 ms–1. The reflected single is received by the source
and superposed with the original. What will be the beat frequency of the resulting signal in Hz.
(Given that the speed of sound in air is 330 ms–1 and the car reflects the sound at the frequency
it has received). [JEE(Advanced)-2017]

Sound Wave 103

 4. Two men are walking along a horizontal straight line in the same direction. The man in front
walks at a speed 1.0 ms–1 and the man behind walks at a speed 2.0 ms–1. A third man is standing
at a height 12 m above the same horizontal line such that all three men are in a vertical plane.
The two walking men are blowing identical whistles which emit a sound of frequency 1430 Hz.
The speed of sound in air is 330 ms–1. At the instant, when the moving men are 10 m apart, the
stationary man is equidistant from them. The frequency of beats in Hz, heard by the stationary
man at this instant, is __________. [JEE(Advanced)-2018]

5. In an experiment to measure the speed of by a resonating air column, a tuning fork of frequency
500 Hz is used. The length of the air column is varied by changing the level of water in the
resonance tube. Two successive resonances are heard at air columns of length 50.7 cm and
83.9 cm Which of the following statements is (are) true? [JEE(Advanced)-2018]
(A) The speed of sound determined from this experiment is 332ms–1
(B) The end correction in this experiment is 0.9 cm
(C) The wavelength of the sound wave is 66.4 cm
(D) The resonance at 50.7 cm corresponds to the fundamental harmonic

6. A train S1, moving with a uniform velocity of 108 km/h. approaches another train S2 standing
on a platform. An observer O moves with a uniform velocity of 36 km/h towards S2, as shown
in figure. Both the trains are blowing whistles of same frequency 120 Hz. When O is 600 m away
from S2 and distance between S1 and S2 is 800 m. the number of beats heard by O is
__________. [Speed of the sound = 330 m/s] [JEE(Advanced)-2019]

7. A stationary tuning fork is in resonance with an air column in a pipe. If the tuning fork is moved
with a speed of 2 ms−1 in front of the open end of the pipe and parallel to it, the length of the
pipe should be changed for the resonance to occur with the moving tuning fork. If the speed of
sound in air is 320 ms−1, the smallest value of the percentage change required in the length of
the pipe is ____________. [JEE(Advanced)-2020]

8. A source, approaching with speed u towards the open end of a stationary pipe of length L, is
emitting a sound of frequency fs. The farther end of the pipe is closed. The speed of sound in
air is v and f0 is the fundamental frequency of the pipe. For which of the following
combination(s) of u and fS, will the sound reaching the pipe lead to a resonance?
[JEE(Advanced)-2021]
(A) u = 0.8v and fs = f0 (B) u = 0.8v and fs = 2f0
(C) u = 0.8v and fs = 0.5f0 (D) u = 0.5v and fs = 1.5f0

ANSWER KEY

1. D 2. ABC 3. 6 4. 5 5. AC or ABC 6. 8.12

7. 0.62 (0.62 to 0.64) 8. AD

104 Sound Wave