Introduction

→ The sensation felt by our ears is called sound.

→ Sound is a form of energy which makes us hear.

→ Law of conservation of energy is also applicable to sound.

→ Sound travels in form of wave.

Production of Sound

→ Sound is produced when object vibrates or sound is produced by vibrating

objects.

→ The energy required to make an object vibrate and produce sound is provided
by some outside source (like our hand, wind etc.).

→ Example: Sound of our voice is produced by vibration of two vocal cords in

our throat.

• Sound of a drum or tabla is produced by vibration of its membrane

when struck.

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→ In laboratory experiments, sound is produced by vibrating tuning fork. The
vibrations of tuning fork can be shown by touching a small suspended pith ball
(cork ball) with a prong of the sounding tuning fork. The pith ball is pushed away
with a great force.

• Sound can be produced by following methods:

(i) By vibrating string (sitar)

(ii) By vibrating air (flute)
(iii) By vibrating membrane (table, drum)

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(iv) By vibrating plates (bicycle bell)
(v) By friction in objects
(vi) By scratching or scrubbing the objects etc.

Introduction to Waves
A wave is a disturbance in a medium which moves from one point to
another and carries energy without a net movement of particles. It may
take the form of elastic deformation or a variation of pressure.

E.g. A rubber cork on the water that goes up and down when a rock falls
into the water creates a ripple.

Particle Motion of Mechanical Waves

(i) Transverse Waves

Particle motion is perpendicular to the direction of wave motion. This type

of wave is a mechanical wave.

E.g.Light and Mexican wave in a stadium.

(ii) Longitudinal waves

Particles travel parallel to the direction of wave motion by means of

successive compressions or elongations. This is also a mechanical wave.

E.g. Sound waves in the air.

Introduction to Sound Waves

Sound needs a medium to propagate. The matter or material through
which sound propagates is called a medium. When particles vibrate about
their mean positions, it pushes a region of compressed air, creating a
region of high pressure, followed by a region of low pressure as the particle
retreats to its mean position. The sound wave
propagates by compressions and rarefactions of particles in a medium.
Sound propagation can be visualised as the propagation of pressure
variations in the medium.

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Propogation of Sound

→ The substance through which sound travels is called a medium.

→ The medium may be solid, liquid or gas.

→ When an object vibrates, then the air particles around it also start vibrating in
exactly the same way and displaced from their stable position.

→ These vibrating air particles exert a force on nearby air particles so they are
also displaced from their rest position and start to vibrate.

→ This process is continued in the medium till sound reaches our ears.

→ The disturbance produced by sound travels through the medium (not the
particles of the medium).

→ Wave is a disturbance which travels through a medium and carries energy.

→ So sound travels in wave form known as mechanical waves.

• When a body vibrates then it compresses the air surrounding it and form a area
of high density called compression (C).

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→ Compression is the part of wave in which particles of the medium are closer to
one another forming high pressure.

→ This compression move away from the vibrating body.

• When vibrating body vibrates back a area of low pressure is formed

called rarefaction (R).

→ Rarefaction is the area of wave in which particles of the medium are further
apart from one another forming a low pressure or low density area.

→ When body vibrates back and forth, a series of compression and rarefaction is
formed in air resulting in sound wave.

→ Propogation of sound wave is propogation of density change.

Sound needs Medium for Propogation

• Sound waves are mechanical waves.

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→ It needs material medium for propogation like air, water, steel etc.

→ It cannot travel in vaccum.

→ An electric bell is suspended in airtight bell jar connected with vacuum pump.

→ When bell jar is full of air, we hear the sound but when air is pumped out from
the bell jar by vacuum pump and we ring the bell, no sound is heard.

→ So, medium is necessary for propagation of sound.

Experiment to show that sound cannot travel through vacuum

Sound Waves as Longitudinal Waves

• A wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate back and forth in the same
direction in which the wave is moving, is called a longitudinal wave.

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→ When we push and pull the slinky compression (number of turns are more or
closer) and rarefaction (number of turns are less or farther) are formed.

→ When a wave travels along with slinky, its each turn moves back and forth by
only a small distance in the direction of wave. So the wave is longitudinal.

→ The direction of vibrations of the particles is parallel to the direction of wave.

• When one end of a slinky is moved up and down rapidly whose other end is
fixed, it produces transverse wave.

→ This wave possess along the slinky in horizontal direction, while turns of slinky
(particles) vibrate up and down at right angle to the direction of wave.

→ Thus in transverse wave particles of the medium vibrate up and down at right
angles to the direction of wave.

→ Light waves are transverse waves but they don’t need a material
medium for propagation.

Characteristics of Sound Wave

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• The characteristics of sound waves are : wavelength, frequency, amplitude,
time period and velocity.

→ When a wave travel in air the density and pressure of air changes from their
mean position.

→ Compression is shown by crest while rarefaction is shown by trough.

→ Compression is the region of maximum density or pressure.

→ Rarefaction is the region of minimum density or pressure.

Wavelength

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→ In sound waves the combined length of a compression and an adjacent
rarefaction is called its wavelength.

→ The distance between the centres of two consecutive compressions or two

consecutive rarefactions is also called its wavelength.

→ It is denoted by the Greek letter lamda (λ). Its SI unit is metre.

Frequency

→ No. of complete waves produced in one second or number of vibrations per

second is called frequency.

→ Number of compressions or rarefactions passed in one second is also

frequency.
→ Frequency of wave is same as the frequency of the vibrating body which
produces the wave.

• The SI unit of frequency is hertz (Hz). The symbol of frequency is v (nu).

• 1 Hertz: One Hz is equal to 1 vibration per second.
• Bigger unit of frequency is kilohertz kHz = 1000 Hz.

Time Period

→ Time taken to complete one vibration is called time period.

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→ Time required to pass two consecutive compressions or rarefactions through a
point is called time period.

• SI unit of time period is second (s). Time period is denoted by T.

• The frequency of a wave is the reciprocal of the time period.
• v = 1/T
Velocity

• The distance travelled by a wave in one second is called velocity of the wave.

• Its SI unit is metre per second (ms-1).

Velocity = Distance travelled/Time taken
⇒ v = λ/T
(λ is the wavelength of the waves travelled in one time time period T)
v = λv (1/T = v)
So, Velocity = Wavelength × Frequency
This is the wave equation.

Amplitude

→ The maximum displacement of the particle of the medium from their original
undisturbed position is called amplitude of the wave.

• Amplitude is denoted by A and its SI unit is metre (m).

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