Chapter :12 SOUND
NCERT Book, Page 162
Q.1. How does the sound produced by a vibrating object in a medium
reach your ear ?
Ans. The sound produced by a vibrating object reaches our ear through
sound waves which travel in the medium as a series of compressions and
rarefactions caused by the vibrations of the particles of the medium.
NCERT Book, Page 163
Q.1. Explain how, sound is produced by your school bell ?
Ans. When the school bell is struck with a hammer, it starts vibrating (or
moving back and forth rapidly through a very small distance). The vibrating
school bell produces sound.
Q.2. Why are sound waves called mechanical waves ?
Ans. The sound waves are called mechanical waves because they need a
material medium (like solid, liquid or gas) for their propagation. The sound
waves involve the vibrations of the particles of the medium through
which they travel.
Q.3. Suppose you and your friend are on the moon. Will you be able to
hear any sound produced by your
friend ?
Ans. No, I will not be able to hear any sound produced by my friend while
on the moon. This can be explained as follows : The moon has no air (or
atmosphere). It is all vacuum (or empty space) on the surface of moon.
Since there is no air (or atmosphere) on the moon to carry the sound waves
(or sound vibrations), therefore, sound cannot be heard directly on the
surface of moon.
NCERT Book, Page 166
Q.1. Which wave property determines (a) loudness (b) pitch ?
Ans. (a) The loudness of sound is determined by the amplitude of sound
waves.
(b) The pitch of sound is determined by the frequency of vibration of the
sound producing source.
Q.2. Guess which sound has a higher pitch : guitar or a car horn ?
Ans. A guitar has a higher pitch than a car horn.
NCERT Book, Page 166
Q.1. What are wavelength, frequency, time-period and amplitude of a
sound wave ?
Ans. (i) The minimum distance in which a sound wave repeats itself is called
its wavelength. In most simple words, it is the length of one complete wave.
(ii) The number of complete sound waves (or cycles) produced in one second
is called frequency of the sound wave.
(iii) The time required to produce one complete sound wave (or cycle) is
called time-period of the sound wave.
(iv) The maximum displacement of the particles of the medium from their
original undisturbed positions,when a sound wave passes through the
medium, is called amplitude of the sound wave.
Q.2. How are the wavelength and frequency of a sound wave related to
its speed ?
Ans. Speed of sound wave = Frequency × Wavelength
Q.3. Calculate the wavelength of a sound wave whose frequency is 220
Hz and speed is 440 m/s in a given medium.
Ans. We know that :
Q.4. A person is listening to a tone of 500 Hz sitting at a distance of
450 m from the source of the sound. What is the time interval between
successive compressions from the source.
NCERT Book, Page 166
Q.1. Distinguish between loudness and intensity of sound.
NCERT Book, Page 167
Q.1. In which of the three media, air, water or iron, does sound travel
the fastest at a particular temperature ?
Ans. The sound travels the fastest in a solid medium. Out of air, water and
iron, iron is a solid, therefore, sound travels fastest in iron.
NCERT Book, Page 168
Q.1. An echo returned in 3 s. What is the distance of the reflecting
surface from the source, given that the speed of sound is 342 m/s ?
Ans. In this case the time taken by sound to travel from the source to the
reflecting surface, and back to the source(in the form of an echo) is 3
seconds. So, the time taken by sound to travel from the source to the
reflecting surface will be half of this time, which is 3/2 = 1.5 seconds. This
means that sound takes 1.5 seconds to travel from the source to the
reflecting surface.
NCERT Book, Pages 174 and 175
Q.1. What is sound and how is it produced ?
Ans. Sound is a form of energy which makes us hear. Sound is produced
when objects vibrate (move back and
forth rapidly). For example, sound can be produced :
(i) by vibrating strings (as in a sitar)
(ii) by vibrating air (as in a flute)
(iii) by vibrating membranes (as in a drum), and
(iv) by vibrating plates (as in cymbals)
Q.2. Describe with the help of a diagram, how compressions and
rarefactions are produced in air near a source of sound.
Ans. Refer ncert book
Q.3. Cite an experiment to show that sound needs a material medium
for its propagation.
Ans. Refer ncert book
Q.4. Why is sound wave called a longitudinal wave ?
Ans. The sound wave is called a longitudinal wave because in a sound wave
the particles of the medium vibrate back and forth in the ‘same direction’ in
which the wave is moving.
Q.5. Which characteristic of the sound helps you to identify your friend
by his voice while sitting with others in a dark room ?
Ans. Quality (or Timbre) of sound.
Q.6. Flash and thunder are produced simultaneously. But thunder is
heard a few seconds after the flash is seen. Why ?
Ans. It is due to the very high speed of light that the flash of lightning is
seen first and it is due to comparatively low speed of sound that the thunder
is heard a few seconds later (though they are produced at the same
time)
Q.7. A person has a hearing range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. What are the
typical wavelengths of sound waves in air corresponding to these two
frequencies ? Take the speed of sound in air as 344 m s–1.
Q.8. Two children are at opposite ends of an aluminium rod. One
strikes the end of rod with a stone. Find the ratio of times taken by
sound wave in air and in aluminium to reach the second child (Given :
Speed of sound in air = 346 m/s ; Speed of sound in aluminium = 6420
m/s).
Ans:
Q.9. The frequency of a source of sound is 100 Hz. How many times
does it vibrate in a minute ?
Ans. The frequency of 100 Hz means that the source of sound vibrates 100
times in 1 second. Also, 1 minute is equal to 60 seconds.
Now, No. of vibrations in 1 second = 100
So, No. of vibrations in 60 seconds = 100 × 60
(or 1 minute) = 6000
Thus, the source of sound vibrates 6000 times in a minute.
Q.10. Does sound follow the same laws of reflection as light does ?
Explain.
Ans. Sound is reflected in the same way as light. So, the sound follows the
same laws of reflection as light does.
For example :
(i) The incident sound wave, the reflected sound wave, and the normal at the
point of incidence, all lie in the same plane.
(ii) The angle of reflection of sound is always equal to the angle of incidence
of sound.
Q.11. When a sound is reflected from a distant object, an echo is
produced. Let the distance between the reflecting
surface and the source of sound production remain the same. Do you
hear echo sound on a hotter day ?
Ans. The speed of sound increases on a hotter day (when the temperature is
high) and it requires a larger distance from the reflecting surface for the
echo to be heard. Since the distance between the reflecting surface and the
source of sound remains the same, no echo can be heard on a hotter day.
Q.12. Give two practical applications of reflection of sound waves.
Ans. (i) The reflection of sound waves is utilised in the working of
megaphone.
(ii) The reflection of sound waves is utilised in the working of a stethoscope.
Q.13. A stone is dropped from the top of a tower 500 m high into a
pond of water at the base of the tower. When is the splash heard at the
top ? Given g = 10 m s–2 and speed of sound = 340 m s–1.
Q.14. A sound wave travels at a speed of 339 m s–1. If its wavelength is
1.5 cm, what is the frequency of the wave ? Will it be audible ?
Since the frequency of 22600 Hz of this sound wave is beyond the upper
limit of hearing which is 20000 Hz, therefore, this sound will not be audible.
It is actually ultrasonic sound.
Q.15. What is reverberation ? How can it be reduced ?
Ans. The persistence of sound in a big hall due to repeated reflections from
the walls, ceiling and floor of the hall is called reverberation. If the
reverberation is too long, then the sound becomes blurred, distorted and
confusing due to overlapping of different sounds. Some of the methods used
for reducing excessive reverberations in big halls and auditoriums are as
follows :
(i) Panels made of sound-absorbing materials (like compressed fibreboard or
felt) are put on the walls and
ceiling of big halls and auditoriums to reduce reverberations.
(ii) Carpets are put on the floor to absorb sound and reduce reverberations.
(iii) Heavy curtains are put on doors and windows to absorb sound and
reduce reverberations.
(iv) The material having sound-absorbing properties is used for making the
seats in a big hall or auditorium to reduce reverberations.
Q.17. Explain how bats use ultrasound to catch a prey ?
Ans. Bats emit high-frequency ultrasound squeaks (or ultrasonic squeaks)
while flying and listen to the echoes produced by the reflection of their
squeaks from the prey like a flying insect. From the time taken by the echo
to be heard, bats can judge the distance of the insect and hence catch it.
Q.18. How is ultrasound used for cleaning ?
Ans. Ultrasound is used in industry to clean ‘hard to reach’ parts of objects
such as spiral tubes, odd-shaped machines and electronic components, etc.
The object to be cleaned is placed in a cleaning solution and ultrasound
waves are passed into the solution. Due to their high frequency, the
ultrasound waves stir up the cleaning solution. Because of stirring, the
particles of dust and grease sticking to the dirty object vibrate too much,
become loose, get detached from the object and fall into solution. The object
gets cleaned thoroughly.
