What is sound?

(1)
Sound is a wave-like distortion of a
physical medium (solid, liquid or gas)
There are two types of wave-like distortion,
transverse waves (e.g. ripples on a pond)
and longitudinal waves (e.g. sound waves).

Basic Acoustics
Robert Mannell
Macquarie University

What is Sound? (2)

What is sound? (3)

In a transverse wave
the medium moves at
right angles to the
direction of movement
of the wave.
This is NOT sound!

In a longitudinal wave
the particles (in this
case spring coils) move
back and forward
relative to the wave
motion.
Waves are peaks and
troughs of compression

What is Sound? (4)

What is Sound? (5)

Individual particles only move short
distances backward and forward in the
direction of wave propagation whilst the
compression wave front can move
considerable distances.
Wave cycles consist of regions of high
compression separated by regions of low
compression (rarefaction) relative to the
ambient or resting state.

Sound is a longitudinal compression wave

which distorts a medium by creating
moving fronts of high and low particle
compression.
Sound can occur in any medium (solid,
liquid and gas).
Sound cannot occur in a vacuum as there
is no medium to compress.
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What is Sound? (6)

A Perceptual Dimension? (1)

Sound in air consists of consecutive

regions of higher and lower air pressure
relative to ambient air pressure (ambient
pressure is typically 1 atmosphere at sea
level).
These fluctuations in air pressure are
extremely small relative to ambient air
pressure (e.g. compared to normal air
pressure at sea level).

A Perceptual Dimension?
Does a longitudinal compression wave
need to be perceivable in order to be
regarded as sound?
(For convenience, I will refer to
longitudinal compression waves as
"acoustic waves" in the following
discussion.)
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A Perceptual Dimension? (2)

A Perceptual Dimension? (3)

Its sometimes claimed that perceivability is a

prerequisite for regarding an acoustic wave as
sound. This doesn't mean that it must actually be
heard, merely that it could be heard if an observer
was present.
In its simple form, this approach would claim that
sound is defined by the limits of human hearing,
i.e. acoustic waves between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz
and between the threshold of hearing and the
threshold of pain would be considered sound.
This view is actually quite problematic.

Firstly, are acoustic waves that possess

these (human) characteristics but that are
being conducted in hostile media (eg. in
lava flows, or on other planets) sound, as
they are not perceivable by humans.
Are sounds outside my range of hearing
(ie. for me, above about 15,000 Hz) not
sound for me even though they are
perceivable by younger ears?

A Perceptual Dimension? (4)

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A Perceptual Dimension? (5)

Perhaps the problem is better approached
from another perspective. It seems that
the word sound has two meanings.
One meaning is simply the physical
definition of sound as a longitudinal
compression wave.
The other definition is that "sound" is the
perceptual correlate of longitudinal
compression waves.

Can sound be said to exist for the

profoundly deaf?
What about "sounds" that are not
perceivable to humans but that are
perceivable to other species
(eg. echolocation sounds up to about
100-200 kHz in some bats). Are they
sounds? Are they only sounds to bats?
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A Perceptual Dimension? (6)

A Perceptual Dimension? (7)

In this course I will take the view that

sound is any longitudinal compression
wave. This would include very high
frequency compression waves (including
bat echolocation signals) and very low
frequency compression waves (including
extremely long wavelength compression
waves observed on the sun).

On the other hand, when we are dealing

with speech sounds I will generally
assume that we are talking about acoustic
waves in the range of human hearing
being conducted through normal
atmospheric air within temperature and
pressure ranges acceptable to humans.

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Sound: Units of Measurement (2)

Sound: Units of Measurement (1)

The wavelength () of a wave is the distance between

successive wave fronts (i.e. peak-to-peak distance).
Wavelength is measured in metres (m).
The frequency (f) of a wave is the number of times per
second that a complete wave cycle passes an observer.
Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz) [or /second (s-1) in
basic units].
The period (T) of a wave is the time it takes for one wave
cycle to pass an observer. The period is measured in
seconds (s) (in speech milliseconds (ms) are often used)
The speed or velocity of sound (c) is the number of
metres that a wave front can travel in a second. The
speed of sound is measured in metres/second (m.s-1)

This table lists the main physical units of

measurement of relevance to acoustics.
n.b.
m.s-1 is equivalent to m/s
kg.s-3 is equivalent to kg/s3 etc.
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Period and Frequency

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Frequency, Period, Wavelength (1)

The above formulae describe a simple inverse

relationship between the frequency (f) and the
period (T) of a waveform.
For example, if the period of a single cycle of a
wave is 1/10 of a second then the 10 these
cycles can occur per second and therefore the
frequency is 10 cycles per second or 10 Hertz.
Hertz means cycles per second.

In the above formulae c = speed of sound

Wavelength (), frequency (f) and period (T)
can be calculated from each other IF we
know the speed of sound (which varies only
slightly in human-friendly environments)
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Frequency, Period, Wavelength (2)

So, for example, we can work out the
frequency of a sound if we know its
wavelength and we know the speed of
sound.
We can do similar conversions if we know,
for example, the period of a single cycle of
a soundwave and speed of sound.

The Speed of Sound (1)

Tau (the curly ) is the absolute temperate of a

medium (e.g. air) that sound travels through.
Speed of sound increases as temperature
increases.
Rho () is the density of the gas that the sound
travels through. Speed of sound decreases as
density of gas increases.
Alpha () means is proportional to.

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The Speed of Sound (2)

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The Speed of Sound (3)

The effect of changes in temperature on

the speed of sound is quite small in the
range of temperatures that humans can
live in comfortably. As is absolute
temperature in degrees Kelvin (K), where
0 C = 273K, changes in temperature
tolerable to humans only represent a fairly
small proportional change and so speed of
sound changes only slightly across
comfortable temperature ranges.

For example, c at -50C is 84% of c at

+45C, which would result in perceivable
differences in the frequency of the same
sound.
These differences in temperature are
extreme (from a human perspective) but
only result in a difference in the speed of
sound of about 10%.

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The Speed of Sound (4)

The Speed of Sound (5)

The effect of gas density on the speed of

sound can be quite great, but there are
very few gas mixtures in which humans
can live comfortably. 20% oxygen + 80%
nitrogen is our normal environment.
The effect of gas density rarely has any
significant effect on the speed of sound in
environments friendly to humans.

The only other relevant gas mixture is the

heliox (helium/oxygen) mixture that deep
sea divers use. (You might have tried
breathing in helium from a balloon at some
time). The speed of sound is higher in this
mixture so the frequency components of
the human voice are heard at higher
frequencies.
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The Speed of Sound (6)

Sound "Amplitude (1)

The speed of sound varies greatly in

different solids and liquids.
As we are mostly interested in speech
acoustics then we are mostly interested in
the speed of sound in air.
For more information on the speed of
sound in solids and liquids read the
relevant section of the web resource basic
acoustics index.

The human ear and the microphone (the

main artificial transducer of sound) both
measure the tiny changes in pressure that
result from the passage of a longitudinal
wave through a medium.

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Sound "Amplitude (2)

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Sound "Amplitude (3)

The average air pressure at sea level is

approximately equivalent to the pressure
exerted by a column of mercury 76 cm
high (in a barometer) at 0C under
standard gravity. This approximation has
been adopted as the definition of the
standard measure of air pressure,
1 atmosphere (atm).
1 atm 1.013 x 105 Pa (101,300 Pascal)

The sound pressure that is only just

perceivable (i.e. the threshold of hearing
for a 3200 Hz tone) is taken to be :2 x 10-5 Pa OR 20 Pa (microPascal)
and this value is used as a Standard
Reference Sound Pressure Level.
The actual threshold of hearing varies
significantly from frequency to frequency
as well as from person to person.
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Sound "Amplitude (4)

Sound "Amplitude (5)

Note that the actual threshold sound

pressure involved is about 2 x 10-10 times
(ie. 1/5,000,000,000) atmospheric
pressure.
It is common to quote sound pressure in
Pa as this measure is almost of the same
order of magnitude as the minimum
perceivable sound pressures.

The threshold of pain (ie. the maximum

sound pressure that can be perceived
without pain) is about 100 Pa or about
1/1000 atm (atmospheres), which in turn is
5,000,000 times the hearing threshold
sound pressure.

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Sound "Amplitude (6)

Sound "Amplitude (7)

Thresholds have also been defined in terms of

intensity, with the standard intensity threshold of
hearing being:- 10-12 Watts.m-2 This is often
used as the Standard Reference Sound Intensity
The intensity of a sound, with a sound pressure
level of 20 Pa, is very close to 10-12 Watts.m-2.
These two reference values have been rounded
off and so do not describe precisely the same
sound level, but they are very close.

The intensity of a sound is proportional to the

square of the sound pressure. i.e. I P2
(alpha means proportional to)
The ratio of the intensity of sound #1 (I1) over
the intensity of sound #2 (I2) equals the square
of the ratio of the sound pressure of sound #1
(P1) over the sound pressure of sound #2 (P2).
(nb. P1 is the sound pressure of sound 1 and I1
is its intensity and similarly for sound 2).
i.e. I1/I2 = (P1/P2)2

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deciBels (1)

deciBels (2)

Fechner (1860) noted that the sensitivity of the ear to

changes in intensity was not related linearly to either
intensity or pressure, but instead has an approximately
logarithmic relationship.
The Bel scale (named after Alexander Graham Bell) was
approximately linearly related to the ear's sensitivity to
sound intensity so that equal steps in Bels were close to
equal perceptual steps. A step of 1 Bel is about 10 times
greater than the smallest perceivable step and so a new
scale was devised, the deciBel (dB).

1 dB = 0.1 Bel or 1 Bel = 10 dB

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dB = 10 x log10 (I1/I2)

It is common to refer to dB values as

"Intensity in dB" (whether derived from
intensity or sound pressure)
dB can be calculated from either:i. the ratio of two sound intensities
dB = 10 x log10 (I1/I2)
ii. the ratio of two sound pressures
dB = 20 x log10(P1/P2)

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deciBels (3)

deciBels (4)

When we say that sound 1 is, for example,

10 dB louder than sound 2 we can
determine this by measuring the sound
pressures (or sound intensities) and using
the preceding formulae.

Very often, however, we are making a

statement about the actual sound pressure
or intensity of a sound (relative to all other
sounds).
To do this we usually use a standard
reference sound pressure or a standard
reference sound intensity and put these
values into the above formulae in the
place of P2 or I2 (and call them P0 or I0)

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deciBels (5)

deciBels (6)

We can express these measures (relative

to standard intensity or sound pressure)
as:dB (IL: ref=10-12 W.m-2) = 10 x log10 (I/I0)
dB (SPL: ref=20Pa) = 20 x log10(P/P0)
Note that the ref= values are the
reference values already introduced in a
previous slide.

You will note that the two formulae on the

previous page differ slightly (10x for
intensity ratios and 20x for pressure
ratios).
The intensity formula 10 x log10 (I/I0) can
be read as ten times log to the base 10 of
the ratio of intensity I over reference
intensity I0 (and the other formula can be
read in a similar but slightly different way)
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deciBels (7)

deciBels (8)

Some simple examples: 20 x log10(2/1) = 6dB (SPL)

20 x log10(0.5/1) = -6dB (SPL)
10 x log10(2/1) = 3dB (IL)
10 x log10(0.5/1) = -3dB (IL)
i.e. twice the sound pressure is +6 dB, half
the sound pressure is -6 dB, twice the
intensity is +3 dB, and half the intensity is
-3 dB

You must be very careful when doing

arithmetic on sound amplitudes.
All calculations (except dB calculations)
should be carried out on sound intensities,
never on sound pressures or dB values
(except for a small number of exceptions,
and only when you are VERY clear about
what you are doing).

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deciBels (9)

deciBels (10)

NEVER add dB values directly. For

example 1 dB + 1 dB does not equal 2 dB
When we add two sounds the resultant
intensity is ALWAYS between the level of
the more intense sound and the level of the
more intense sound PLUS 3 dB
There is an exception to this which occurs
when two sounds cancel each other out,
but this only occurs rarely.

When adding together two sounds of the

same dB value, add 3 dB
When doubling intensity, simply add 3 dB
When halving intensity, simply subtract 3 dB
Multiplying intensity by four is the same as
doubling twice, so add 3 dB twice, etc.
Dividing intensity by four is the same as
halving twice, so subtract 3 dB twice, etc.

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deciBels (11)

Root Mean Squared - RMS (1)

The R.M.S. method is the only valid way to
determine the "average" sound pressure of a
length of speech signal. This is because
pressures must be first converted to intensities.
Remember:I P2
Therefore, the following formula can be used for
the calculation of average pressure:-

for example: 50 dB + 50 dB = 53 dB
50 dB + 47 dB = 51.8 dB
50 dB + 40 dB = 50.4 dB
50 dB + 20 dB = 50.004 dB
50 dB + 0 dB = 50.00004 dB (nb. 0 dB is
not equivalent to I = 0)
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Root Mean Squared - RMS (2)

n
1
2
3
4
5

Pn
3
2
0
-2
-3

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Root Mean Squared - RMS (3)

Pn2
9
4
0
4
9

The formula for determining the average

sound intensity is much simpler (a simple
average) but as the microphone is a sound
pressure transducer then digitised sound
is a sequence of pressure values and so
the RMS formula is what is used in digital
calculations of average sound amplitude.

Pn2 = 9+4+0+4+9 = 26 (sum of the squares of the

pressures)
PRMS = (26/5) = 2.28

(divide by the number of samples

and get the square root)

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Acoustic Intensity and the Inverse

Square Law (1)

Acoustic Intensity and the Inverse

Square Law (2)

The acoustic intensity, or average rate at

which work is being transferred through a
unit area (on the surface of the spherical
wave front radiating out from the source in
all directions), diminishes with distance in
accordance with the inverse square law.

For the purposes of this course, we are mostly

interested in comparing intensities (and
pressures) at varying distances from the sound
source. Use the following formula:-

where:- I = the intensity of a sound

and
r = the distance from the
source of the sound

where I1 is the intensity of a sound at distance r1

from the source and I2 is the intensity of the same
sound at distance r2 from the source.
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Acoustic Intensity and the Inverse

Square Law (3)

Acoustic Intensity and the Inverse

Square Law (4)

A question that would typically be asked is

If a sound has an intensity of I1 at a
distance r1 what would be the intensity at
twice that distance from the sound source
(ie. r2 = 2 x r1). This would give us:I2 = I1 x (1/2)2 or
I2 = I1 / 4
OR if you double the distance, you quarter
the intensity.

The effect of distance on sound pressure

is simpler. For example, if we double the
distance we halve the sound pressure. Its
important to remember that the RMS
formula ONLY applies to acoustic
intensities.

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Acoustic Intensity and the Inverse

Square Law (5)

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Acoustic Intensity and the Inverse

Square Law (6)

We can use a simple two

dimensional model to
partially illustrate this. In a
2D universe if we have a
certain measure of intensity
(16 lines of intensity here)
passing through a region of
length L at one metre, we
can see that at 2 metres the
same 16 lines pass through
2 x L (and therefore only 8
pass through L).

In a 3D universe, we might
imagine two squares drawn
on the surface of a balloon
(initially inflated to a certain
radius). Inside a 100x100
unit square on that surface
are 1000 dots (representing
1000 units of intensity).

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This 100x100 unit square

might represent an ear
drum or a microphone
diaphragm.

Acoustic Intensity and the Inverse

Square Law (8)

Acoustic Intensity and the Inverse

Square Law (7)
If we inflate the balloon
some more so that now its
radius is twice as large, the
original 100x100 square is
now 200x200 units in size
(and 4 times the area).
Inside a 100x100 square
drawn within this square
there are only 250 points.
The original 1000 points are
now spread over 4 times
the area.
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The acoustic inverse square law is

important because in most practical
situations we are interested in the amount
of sound, at different distances from the
sound source, passing through a constant
surface area, such as an ears tympanic
membrane or a microphone.

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Doppler Effect (1)

Doppler Effect (2)

If I am stationary a certain
number of sound
wavefronts (e.g. sine
wave peaks) reach my
ears per second.
If I move towards the
sound source my ears
intersect a greater
number of wavefronts per
second and I perceive a
higher frequency.

If I am stationary and
a sound source
moves towards me,
each successive
wavefront has less
distance to travel and
so arrives a bit
quicker than it would
have otherwise. Each
wavelength seems
shorter so I perceive
a higher frequency.

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Doppler Effect (3)

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Resources

If Im moving away from a sound source or its

moving away from me then the opposite occurs
and so I perceive a lower frequency.
For a source or observer moving at a constant
velocity there is a single shift in frequency and
that perceived frequency remains constant.
The frequency would change continuously if the
source or listener velocity is accelerating or
decelerating.
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These notes are derived from the more

complete web-based notes at:http://clas.mq.edu.au/speech/acoustics/basic_acoustics/index.html

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