Lecture 4 - Sound

I. Sound Waves

Sound is simply any longitudinal wave in a

medium.
The audible range of frequency for humans is
between about 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz.
Ultrasonic sound waves have frequencies above
human hearing and infrasonic waves are below.

The amplitude A is the maximum displacement

of a particle in the medium from its
equilibrium position. Therefore, A is also
called the displacement amplitude.

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
I. Sound Waves
Sound Waves As Pressure Fluctuations

Sound can be described by a graph of

displacement versus position, or by a
drawing showing the displacements of
individual particles, or by a graph of the
pressure uctuation versus position

As a sound wave propagates along

the x-axis, the left and right ends
undergo different displacements y1
and y2.
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 Lecture 4 - Sound
I. Sound Waves
Sound Waves As Pressure Fluctuations

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
I. Sound Waves
Sound Waves As Pressure Fluctuations

The instantaneous pressure uctuation in a sound wave

The pressure amplitude

B is the bulk modulus where B=-p(x,t)/(dv/V)

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
I. Sound Waves
Example 1:
A sound wave that enters the human ear sets
the eardrum into oscillation, which in turn
causes oscillation of the ossicles, a chain of
three tiny bones in the middle ear ( gure
below). The ossicles transmit this oscillation to
the uid (mostly water) in the inner ear; there
the uid motion disturbs hair cells that send
nerve impulses to the brain with information
about the sound. The area of the moving part
of the eardrum is about 43 mm2, and that of
the stapes (the smallest of the ossicles) where
it connects to the inner ear is about 3.2 mm2.
For the sound in Example 1, determine
a) the pressure amplitude.
b) the displacement amplitude of the wave in
the uid of the inner ear, in which the speed of
sound is 1500 m/s.

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
I. Sound Waves
The sound wave produced in the surrounding air has a similar amount of
each harmonic, a similar harmonic content

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
II. Speed of Sound Waves

In Fluid

In Solid

Y is Young’s modulus

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II. Speed of Sound Waves

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
II. Speed of Sound Waves

Example 2: A ship uses a sonar system to locate underwater objects.

Find the speed of sound waves in water, and nd the
wavelength of a 262-Hz wave.

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
II. Speed of Sound Waves

In Gas

p0 is the equilibrium pressure of the gas

The quantity is called the ratio of heat capacities

M is the molar mass

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
III. Sound Intensity

Intensity = Power/Area = Pressure*Velocity

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
III. Sound Intensity

Because the ear is sensitive over a broad range of intensities, a logarithmic

intensity scale is usually used. The sound intensity level β of a sound wave

I0 is a reference intensity, chosen to be 10-12 W>m2

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
III. Sound Intensity
Example 2: A 10-min exposure to 120-dB sound will temporarily shift your
threshold of hearing at 1000 Hz from 0 dB up to 28 dB. Ten years
of exposure to 92-dB sound will cause a permanent shift to 28
dB. What sound intensities correspond to 28 dB and 92 dB?

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
III. Sound Intensity
Example 3: Consider an idealized bird (treated as a point source) that emits constant
sound power, with intensity obeying the inverse-square law. If you move
twice the distance from the bird, by how many decibels does the sound
intensity level drop?

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
IV. Standing Sound Waves and Normal Mode
When longitudinal (sound) waves propagate in a uid in a pipe with nite length,
the waves are re ected from the ends in the same way that transverse waves on a
string are re ected at its ends. The superposition of the waves traveling in opposite
directions again forms a standing wave

Displacement node and displacement antinode refer to points where particles of

the uid have zero displacement and maximum displacement, respectively

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
IV. Standing Sound Waves and Normal Mode

Demonstrating standing sound waves using a Kundt’s tube. The blue shading
represents the density of the gas at an instant when the gas pressure at the
displacement nodes is a maximum or a minimum.

Kundt’s tube experiments:

Sound looking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBP0jmpjzBw
Resonance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUiB_zd9M0k

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
IV. Standing Sound Waves and Normal Mode

Pressure node = a point in a standing

sound wave at which the pressure and
density do not vary.
Pressure antinode to describe a point at
which the variations in pressure and
density are greatest.

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
IV. Standing Sound Waves and Normal Mode

In a standing sound wave, a displacement node N is

a pressure antinode (a point where the pressure
uctuates the most) and a displacement antinode A
is a pressure node (a point where the pressure does
not uctuate at all).

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
IV. Standing Sound Waves and Normal Mode

A pressure node is always a displacement

antinode, and a pressure antinode is
always a displacement node

An open end of a pipe is a pressure node

because it is open to the atmosphere, where the
pressure is constant = a displacement antinode

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
IV. Standing Sound Waves and Normal Mode

Question: A directional loudspeaker directs a sound wave of wavelength λ at a

wall. At what distances from the wall could you stand and hear no
sound at all?

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
V. Pipe and Wind Instruments

Cross sections of an organ pipe at two instants one

half-period apart. The N’s and A’s are displacement
nodes and anti- nodes; as the blue shading shows,
these are points of maximum pressure variation
and zero pressure variation, respectively.

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
V. Pipe and Wind Instruments
Considering a pipe that is opened at both ends
(open pipe)

A cross section of an open pipe showing

the rst three normal modes
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 Lecture 4 - Sound
V. Pipe and Wind Instruments

For stopped pipe:

A cross section of a stopped pipe showing the rst three normal

modes as well as the displacement nodes and antinodes
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 Lecture 4 - Sound
V. Pipe and Wind Instruments

Example 4:

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
V. Resonance and Sound
Resonance: ampli cation of wave amplitude by a driving force having
frequency f as one of the normal mode or “natural frequency”

(a) The air in an open pipe is forced to oscillate at the same frequency as the sinusoidal
sound waves coming from the loudspeaker. (b) The resonance curve of the open pipe graphs
the amplitude of the standing sound wave in the pipe as a function of the driving frequency.

More explanation of resonance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dihQuwrf9yQ
Tacoma Bridge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XggxeuFDaDU
Wine glass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17tqXgvCN0E
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 Lecture 4 - Sound
VI. Interference

Constructive Interference Destructive Interference

Interference effects occurs when two different waves with the same frequency
overlap in the same region of space

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
VI. Interference

Two source separated by d = λ

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
VI. Interference

Constructive Interference

D1- D2 = 2n λ/2 = n λ

Destructive Interference

D1- D2 = (2n+1) λ/2

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
VI. Interference

Example 5: Two small loudspeakers, A and B (see gure below) , are driven by the
same ampli er and emit pure sinusoidal waves in phase.
a) For what frequencies does constructive interference occur at point P?
b) For what frequencies does destructive interference occur? The speed
of sound is 350 m/s.

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VII. Beats
Considering two waves with equal amplitude but slightly different frequencies
I.e: two tuning forks with slightly different frequencies are sounded together, or two
organ pipes that are supposed to have exactly the same frequency are slightly “out of
tune.”

he amplitude variation causes varia- tions of loudness called beats, and the frequency with which the loudness varies is called the beat frequency

a)Individual waves.
b) Resultant wave formed by superposition of the two waves.
The beat frequency is 18Hz - 16Hz = 2Hz.
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 Lecture 4 - Sound
VII. Beats
The amplitude variation causes variations of loudness called beats, and the frequency with
which the loudness varies is called the beat frequency.

a)Individual waves.
b) Resultant wave formed by superposition of the two waves.
The beat frequency is 18Hz - 16Hz = 2Hz.
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VII. Beats
Suppose ƒa is larger than ƒb; the corresponding periods are Ta and Tb,with Ta > Tb

Beats between two tones can be heard up to a beat frequency of 6 or 7 Hz .

At frequency differences greater than about 6 or 7 Hz, we no longer hear individual

beats, and the sensation merges into one of consonance or dissonance, depend- ing on
the frequency ratio of the two tones.

In some cases the ear perceives a tone called a difference tone, with a pitch equal to
the beat frequency of the two tones.

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
VIII. Doppler Effect

Doppler effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4OnBYrbCjY

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
VIII. Doppler Effect

Correct for the notation

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
VIII. Doppler Effect

Example 6:

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 Lecture 4 - Sound
VIII. Doppler Effect

Example 7: The re truck is moving toward a warehouse at 30 m/s, with

frequency of 300Hz. What frequency does the driver hear re ected
from the warehouse? Speed of sound is 340 m/s.

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