SOUND THEORY

• All of the sounds you can hear occur because mechanical energy
transferred to your ear through the movement of atomic particles.

• Sound is a pressure disturbance that moves through a medium in the

form of mechanical waves
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSTICS
• Technology of designing spaces, structures, and mechanical systems to meet hearing
needs.

• With proper design, "WANTED“ Sounds can be heard properly and

"UNWANTED" sounds or "NOISE", can be attenuated to the point where it does
not cause annoyance.

• Light structures generally transmit more sound than heavy ones

• Outside noise sources such as cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes present problems in
isolating interior spaces from exterior sound.
ACCOUSTIC ELEMENTS
• Source can be made louder or quieter

• Path can be made to transmit more or less sound

• Receiver reception of sound also may be influenced.

SOUND

• An audible signal

• Physical wave, or a mechanical vibration

• Series of pressure variations, in an elastic medium

• Airborne sound, the medium is air.

• Structure-borne, sound the medium is concrete. steel, wood, glass and combinations
of all of these
HEALTHY YOUNG EAR

• Can detection sound from 20 to 20,000 Hz

• Sounds is affected by pressure variations

• In air, these pressure variations take the form of periodic compressions and
rarefactions
FIGURE OF SOUND PRESSURE WAVES
• This is a continuous vibration that causes a series of compressions and rarefactions
to travel outward longitudinally from the source.

• Amplitude information is carried by pressure, that is, greater amplitude means

greater compression and greater rarefaction.
VIBRATION IN PHYSICS

• The oscillating, reciprocating, or other periodic motion of a rigid or elastic body or

medium forced from a position or state of equilibrium.

• the analogous motion of the particles of a mass of air or the like, whose state of
equilibrium has been disturbed, as in transmitting sound.
MECHANICAL WAVES

• Used to describe the distribution of energy through a medium by the transfer of

energy from one particle to the next.

• Waves of sound energy move outward in all directions from the source

• Your vocal chords and the strings on a guitar are both sources which vibrate to
produce sound waves

• Without energy, there would be no sound

COMPRESSION

• Happens when particles are forced, or pressed, together

• It is the point when the most force is being applied to a molecule

RAREFACTION

• is just the opposite of compression, it occurs when particles are given extra space
and allowed to expand

• It is the point when the least force is applied

Amplitude

• is the fluctuation or displacement of a wave from its mean value. With sound waves,
it is the extent to which air particles are displaced

• amplitude of sound or sound amplitude is experienced as the loudness of sound.

Two single impulses of different magnitude (amplitude) are shown traveling
away from the source
PROPAGATION OF SOUND

• PHYSICAL DISTURBANCE, or an alteration or pulsation of pressure of being

detected by a normal ear by traveling through air.

• In any case, a medium possessing inertia and elasticity is needed to propagate it.

• Sound waves do not travel through a vacuum.

• The auditory sensation produced by sound waves will be called SOUND

SENSATION.
SPEED OF SOUND PROPAGATION
• The speed of propagation is determined by the compressibility and density of the
medium

• The less the compressibility of the medium and the less its density, the faster will the
wave motion be propagated.
VELOCITY OF SOUND PROPAGATION
• Sound travels at different velocities depending upon the medium.

• In air, at sea level, sound velocity is 344m/sec or 1130 fps. This corresponds to 770
miles per hour (mph) or 4 78 kilometers per hour (kmph) - slow indeed when
compared to light at 186,000 miles per second.

• Since sound travels not only in air but also through parts of the structure it is of
interest to know the velocities in other media.

• Sound travels much faster in liquids and solids than it does in air.
SPEED OF SOUND

• As sound travels much slower than speed of light, the resulting defects in many
rooms are echoes and reverberations

• Experimental data show that when the reflected sounds which reach an observer are
delayed more than about 0.058 second, relative to direct sounds, they are
distinguished as echoes
• Reverberation, as most simply interpretted, consists of successive reflections of a
sound in a room

• Sound travels only about 1130 feet or 344 meters per second these usually will be a
rather long succession of these reflections before the sound dies away to inaudibility.

• Speed of sound is independent of frequency, intensity, and changes in atmospheric

pressure

• Temperature does have a significant effect on the speed, increasing it about 1.1 feet
or (3 centimeters) per second per degree Fahrenheit rise in temperature
• The dependence of the speed of sound on temperature is one of the prime causes of
the bending of sound rays in the atmosphere.

• This bending (refraction) of sound waves sometimes affects the distribution of sound
reaching an audience, especially in open-air theatres.
• VELOCITY OF SOUND is often used interchangeably with speed of sound
although, strictly speaking, the two are not the same

• VELOCITY includes both speed and direction of propagation; velocity is speed in a

specified direction; that is velocity is a vector quantity
SOUND FREQUENCY
• The number of times the cycle of compression and rarefaction of air (or to and for
vibrations that the source) makes in a given unit of time or 1 second
• In sound, frequency is often referred to by a term borrowed from musical concepts -
pitch.

• The higher the frequency the higher the pitch. and vice versa

• The human speaking voice has a range of approximately 100 to 600Hz in

fundamentals,

• Harmonics (overtones) reach to approximately 7500 Hz

• A sound composed on only one frequency is a pure tone. Except for the sound
generated by a tuning fork

• Most common sounds are complex combinations of frequencies

WAVELENGTH AND TYPES OF
PROPAGATION
• The wavelength of a sound may be defined as the distance between similar points on
successive waves or the distance the sound travels in one cycle of vibration

• Denoted by the Greek letter lambda

• Low-frequency sounds are characterized by long wavelengths
• High-frequency sounds by short wavelengths

• Sounds with wavelengths ranging from ½ inch to 50 feet or 1.25 cm to 15.25m can
be heard by humans
WAVE FORM
• Graphical representation, the precise nature of a complete to and-fro oscillation of
the vibrating particles in a sound field
SOUND MAGNITUDE
• When we speak of sound magnitude, we think of loudness, which is a subjective, ear
oriented reaction not linearly related to the physical quantity of sound

SOUND PRESSURE
• Total pressure in a sound field, at a specified point and instant of time t, is given by
the sum of the undisturbed atmospheric pressure Ps and the alternating pressure due
to the sound wave.
• The term SOUND PRESSURE is generally used to designate the effective value of the
sound
• An extraordinarily small sound pressure can be detected by the ear. The following
figure indicates the pressure due to noise in various locations; it shows that at the
threshold of audibility the sound pressure is on 0 .0000000035 pound per square
inch.
ACOUSTICAL POWER

• The rate of emission of acoustical energy from most sources of sound

• The average acoustical power radiated by a person speaking in an auditorium is of

the order of 25 to 50 microwatts (a microwatt is one million of a watt).
SOUND INTENSITY
• The sound intensity in a specified direction at a point in a sound field is defined as the rate
of flow of sound energy through a unit area at that point

• the unit area being perpendicular to the specified direction

• Expressed in watts per square centimeter.

• The sound intensity at any distance from the source is expressed also as
• Since the sound radiates freely in all directions,
INTENSITY LEVEL (IL)
THE DECIBEL (DB)
• The word "level" indicates a quantity relative to a base quantity. Intensity level is the
ratio between a given intensity and a base intensity. If we express intensity level as
• Intensity level increases (decreases) 3 db with every doubling (halving) of power

• Decreases (increases) 6 db with every doubling (halving) of distance

• The ear responds to sound pressure, not intensity

• Sound pressure level (SPL) is equal numerically to intensity level (at least for
normal temperature and pressure
HUMAN RESPONSE TO
SOUND
HOW WE HEAR
• Ear is divided into three parts: the external ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear

• The external ear consists of an external appendage. called the pinna, and the ear
canal. which is closed at the inner end by the eardrum

• The outer ear is funnel shaped and serves as a sound-gathering input terminal to the
auditory system

• Sound energy travels through the auditory canal (outer

• Ear) and sets in motion the components of the middle ear.

• The middle ear contains three tiny bones or ossides which transmit vibrations from the eardrum to the
inner ear.

• These bones- the hammer, anvil, and stirrup- constitute a lever mechanism that communicates the
vibrations of the drum to the membrane of the oval window, which is the entrance to the inner ear.

• The stirrup acts as a piston to transmit vibrations into the fluid of the inner ear. This fluid motion
causes movement of hair cells in the cochlea, which in turn stimulates nerves at their bases, which in
turn transmit electrical impulses along the eight cranial nerve, to the brain. These impulses we
understand as SOUND.

• Thus the action of the middle ear is that of an efficient mechanical transformer coupling vibrations in
the air to the liquid in the internal ear.
The inner ear has two distinct functions:
• 1) the maintenance of body equilibrium, accomplished by the vetibular portion of the
ear. which is made up principally of three semicircular canals

• 2) the perception of sound, which is accomplished by the cochlea and 'its associated
apparatus.
• The cochlea is where frequency recognition is accomplished by the basilar
membrane.

• This membrane resonates at one end at about 20 Hz and at the other at 20 KHz,
giving the ear its frequency range

• The cochlea is a liquid -filled spiral canal, subdivided along its length into two
canals by a bony structure and a tough membrane

• The end on one of these canals is closed by the oval window this window that the
vibration of the ossicles is transmitted to the liquid in the cochlea
• They send impulses to the brain by way of the nerve fibers

• Rate at which the total number of these nervous impulses are communicated to the
brain determines the loudness

• This rate depends on the number and activity (pulsing rate) of the nerve endings
stimulated. It increases with the sound pressure of the wave striking the ear
• Pitch of the sound sensation is determined principally by the location of the nerve
endings that are most excited by the resonant vibration of various sections of the
basilar membrane

• at low pitch the frequency of arrival of the nervous impulses at the brain may be the
chief determinant.

• Tonal Quality is determined largely by the number, location and extent of the excited
nerve endings and is comp1exty related to the wave form and pressure of the sound
wave striking the ear
SENSITIVITY OF THE EAR

• Sound wave must have a certain minimum value of pressure in order to be heard by
an observer. This value for selected observers, who have good hearing, who are
facing the source of plane progressive waves and listening with both ears, is called
the minimum audible threshold 'for a free field
• An observer in the field of a free plane progressive wave will notice that, as the
pressure of the wave is increased, the resulting sound becomes louder and louder
until it attains a level at which the sound can be felt (a sort of tingling sensation) as
well as heard. This level is called the Threshold of Feeling.

• Above this threshold, the observer experiences a mixed sensation of sound, feeling,
and pain.
SOUND FIELDS IN AN ENCLOSED SPACE

• When a sound propagated in an enclosed space reaches a wall or other large (with
respect to wavelength) obstruction, part is reflected and part absorbed

• The sound at any point in the room is then the combination of direct sound from
walls and other obstructions. If the reflections are so large that the sound level
becomes uniform throughout the room, the field within the room is termed a diffuse
one (no shadows). and intensity measurements with respect to a specific source are
meaningless
They can be recognized as follows.

• The near field is generally within one wavelength of the lowest frequency at sound produced by the
source. Within this distance sound-pressure-level measurements vary widely and are not meaningful.
(The maximum wavelength for the human male voice is about 3.30 m or 11 ft .)

• Near large obstructions such a& walls, the reverberant field is dominant and approaches a diffuse
condition. In auditoriums the reverberant (diffuse) field predominates and sound pressure level
remains relatively constant beyond the free field area.

• The free field exists between the near and reverberant fields, and there intensity varies as pressure
squared and inversely with distance. In this field, sound pressure level drops 6 db with each doubling
of distance from the source, and it is in this field that meaningful sound-pressure-level measurements
can be made.
• Reverberation Time is defined as the time necessary for the sound to drop 60 db, that
is, to effectively become inaudible, after power is shut off. (Reverberation time can
also be calculated in terms of a room's dimensions and absorption coefficient
SOUND POWER AND PRESSURE LEVELS IN
FREE SPACE (OUTDOORS)

• Outdoor noise sources such as traffic, cooling tower, and aircraft are frequently loud
enough to disturb activities within or immediately adjacent to a building

• The noise made by building equipment, such as cooling towers, heat pumps, and
even window air conditioners may be sufficiently loud to disturb neighbors in a
nearby building