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The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Sound Waves and Music


The nature of sound as a longitudinal,
mechanical pressure wave is explained and
the properties of sound are discussed.
Wave principles of resonance and standing
waves are applied in an effort to analyze
the physics of musical instruments.
Lesson 1: The Nature of a Sound Wave
Lesson 2: Sound Properties and Their
Perception
Lesson 3: Behavior of Sound Waves
Lesson 4: Resonance and Standing
Waves
Lesson 5: Musical Instruments

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2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and
Engineering, Inc.
All rights reserved.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Sound is a
Mechanical
Wave
Sound is a
Longitudinal
Wave
Sound is a
Pressure
Wave
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 1: The Nature of a Sound Wave


Sound is a Mechanical Wave
Sound and music are parts of our everyday
sensory experience. Just as humans have
eyes for the detection of light and color, so
we are equipped with ears for the detection
of sound.We seldom take the time to
ponder the characteristics and behaviors of
sound and the mechanisms by which
sounds are produced, propagated, and
detected. The basis for an understanding of
sound, music and hearing is the physics of
waves. Sound is a wave which is created by
vibrating objects and propagated through a
medium from one location to another. In
this unit, we will investigate the nature,
properties and behaviors of sound waves
and apply basic wave principles towards an
understanding of music.
As discussed in the previous unit of The
Physics Classroom, a wave can be described
as a disturbance that travels through a
medium, transporting energy from one
location to another location. The medium is
simply the material through which the
disturbance is moving; it can be thought of
as a series of interacting particles. The
example of a slinky wave is often used to
illustrate the nature of a wave. A
disturbance is typically created within the
slinky by the back and forth movement of
the first coil of the slinky. The first coil
becomes disturbed and begins to push or
pull on the second coil; this push or pull on
the second coil will displace the second coil
from its equilibrium position. As the second
coil becomes displaced, it begins to push or
pull on the third coil; the push or pull on
the third coil displaces it from its
equilibrium position. As the third coil

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becomes displaced, it begins to push or pull


on the fourth coil. This process continues in
consecutive fashion, each individual particle
acting to displace the adjacent particle;
subsequently the disturbance travels
through the slinky. As the disturbance
moves from coil to coil, the energy which
was originally introduced into the first coil
is transported along the medium from one
location to another.

A sound wave is similar in nature to a slinky


wave for a variety of reasons. First, there is
a medium which carries the disturbance
from one location to another. Typically, this
medium is air; though it could be any
material such as water or steel. The
medium is simply a series of interconnected
and interacting particles. Second, there is
an original source of the wave, some
vibrating object capable of disturbing the
first particle of the medium. The vibrating
object which creates the disturbance could
be the vocal chords of a person, the
vibrating string and sound board of a guitar
or violin, the vibrating tines of a tuning
fork, or the vibrating diaphragm of a radio
speaker. Third, the sound wave is
transported from one location to another by
means of the particle interaction. If the
sound wave is moving through air, then as
one air particle is displaced from its
equilibrium position, it exerts a push or pull
on its nearest neighbors, causing them to
be displaced from their equilibrium position.
This particle interaction continues
throughout the entire medium, with each
particle interacting and causing a
disturbance of its nearest neighbors. Since
a sound wave is a disturbance which is
transported through a medium via the
mechanism of particle interaction, a sound
wave is characterized as a mechanical
wave.

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The creation and


propagation of sound
waves are often
demonstrated in class
through the use of a tuning
fork. A tuning fork is a
metal object consisting of
two tines capable of vibrating if struck by a
rubber hammer or mallet. As the tines of
the tuning forks vibrate back and forth,
they begin to disturb surrounding air
molecules. These disturbances are passed
on to adjacent air molecules by the
mechanism of particle interaction. The
motion of the disturbance, originating at
the tines of the tuning fork and traveling
through the medium (in this case, air) is
what is referred to as a sound wave. The
generation and propagation of a sound
wave is demonstrated in the animation
below.

In some class demonstrations, the tuning


fork is mounted on a sound board. In such
instances, the vibrating tuning fork, being
connected to the sound board, sets the
sound board into vibrational motion. In
turn, the sound board, being connected to
the air inside of it, sets the air inside of the
sound board into vibrational motion. As the
tines of the tunig fork, the structure of the
sound board, and the inside of the sound
board begin vibrating at the same
frequency, a louder sound is produced. In
fact, the more particles which can be made
to vibrate, the louder or more amplified the
sound. This concept was also demonstrated
by the placement of the vibrating tunig fork
against the glass panel of the overhead
projector; the vibrating tuning fork set the
glass panel into vibrational motion and
resulted in an amplified sound.

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In the tuning fork demonstrations, we know


that the tuning fork is vibrating because we
hear the sound which is produced by their
vibration. Nonetheless, we do not actually
visibly detect any vibrations of the tines.
This is because the tines are
vibrating at a very high
frequency. If the tuning fork
which is being used
corresponds to middle C on
the piano keyboard, then the tines are
vibrating at a frequency of 256 Hz - 256
vibrations per second. We are unable to
detect vibrations of such high frequency.
But perhaps you recall the demonstration in
which a high frequency strobe light was
used to slow down the vibrations. If he
strobe light puts out a flash of light at a
frequency of 512 Hz (two times the
frequency of the tuning fork), then the
tuning fork can be observed to be moving in
a back and forth motion. With the room
darkened, the strobe allows us to view the
position of the tines two times during their
vibrational cycle. Thus we see the tines
when they are displaced far to the left and
again when they are displaced far to the
right. This is convincing proof that the tines
of the tuning fork are indeed vibrating.
In a previous unit of The Physics Classroom,
a distinction was made between two
categories of waves: mechanical waves and
electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic
waves are waves which have an electric and
magnetic nature and are
capable of traveling
through a vacuum.
Electromagnetic waves
do not require a medium
in order to transport their
energy. Mechanical
waves are waves which require a medium
in order to transport their energy from one
location to another. Because mechanical
waves rely on particle interaction in order
to transport their energy, they cannot

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travel through regions of space which are


devoid of particles. That is, mechanical
waves cannot travel through a vacuum.
This feature of mechanical waves was
demonstrated in class using a segment
from a laser disc. A ringing bell was plaed
in a jar and air was evacuated from the jar.
Once air was removed from the jar, the
sound of the ringing bell could no longer be
heard. The clapper could be seen striking
the bell. but the sound which it produced
could not be heard because there were no
particles inside of the jar to transport the
disturbance through the vacuum. Sound is
a mechanical wave and cannot travel
through a vacuum.

Check Your Undersanding


1. A sound wave is different than a light
wave in that a sound wave is
a. produced by an oscillating object and a
light wave is not.
b. not capable of traveling through a
vacuum.
c. not capable of diffracting and a light
wave is.
d. capable of existing with a variety of
frequencies and a light wave has a
single frequency.

NEXT >>
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2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and
Engineering, Inc.
All rights reserved.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Sound is a
Mechanical
Wave
Sound is a
Longitudinal
Wave
Sound is a
Pressure
Wave
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 1: The Nature of a Sound Wave


Sound is a Longitudinal Wave
In the first part of Lesson 1, it was
mentioned that sound is a mechanical wave
which is created by a vibrating object. The
vibrations of the object set particles in the
surrounding medium in vibrational motion,
thus transporting energy through the
medium. The vibrations of the particles are
best described as longitudinal.
Longitudinal waves are waves in which the
motion of the individual particles of the
medium is in a direction which is parallel to
the direction of energy transport. A
longitudinal wave can be created in a slinky
if the slinky is stretched out in a horizontal
direction and the first coils of the slinky are
vibrated horizontally. In such a case, each
individual coil of the medium is set into
vibrational motion in directions parallel to
the direction which the energy is
transported.

Sound waves are longitudinal waves


because particles of the medium through
which the sound is transported vibrate
parallel to the direction which the sound
moves. A vibrating string can create
longitudinal waves as depicted in the
animation below. As the vibrating string
moves in the forward direction, it begins to
push upon surrounding air molecules,
moving them to the right towards their
nearest neighbor. This causes the air

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molecules to the right of the string to be


compressed into a small region of space. As
the vibrating string moves in the reverse
direction (leftward), it lowers the pressure
of the air immediately to its right, thus
causing air molecules to move back
leftward. The lower pressure to the right of
the string causes air molecules in that
region immediately to the right of the string
to expand into a large region of space. The
back and forth vibration of the string causes
individual air molecules (or a layer of air
molecules) in the region immediately to the
right of the string to continually move back
and forth horizontally; the molecules move
rightward as the string moves rightward
and then leftward as the string moves
leftward. These back and forth vibrations
are imparted to adjacent neighbors by
particle interaction; thus, other surrounding
particles begin to move rightward and
leftward, thus sending a wave to the right.
Since air molecules (the particles of the
medium) are moving in a direction which is
parallel to the direction which the wave
moves, the sound wave is referred to as a
longitudinal wave. The result of such
longitudinal vibrations is the creation of
compressions and rarefactions within
the air.

Regardless of the source of the sound wave


- whether it be a vibrating string or the
vibrating tines of a tuning fork - sound is a
longitudinal wave. And the essential
characteristic of a longitudinal wave which
distinguishes it from other types of waves is
that the particles of the medium move in a
direction parallel to the direction of energy
transport.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Sound is a
Mechanical
Wave
Sound is a
Longitudinal
Wave
Sound is a
Pressure
Wave
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 1: The Nature of a Sound Wave


Sound is a Pressure Wave
Sound is a mechanical wave which results
from the longitudinal motion of the particles
of the medium through which the sound
wave is moving. If a sound wave is moving
from left to right through air, then particles
of air will be displaced both rightward and
leftward as the energy of the sound wave
passes through it. The motion of the
particles parallel (and anti-parallel) to the
direction of the energy transport is what
characterizes sound as a longitudinal wave.
A vibrating tuning fork
is capable of creating
such a longitudinal
wave. As the tines of
the fork vibrate back
and forth, they push on neighboring air
particles. The forward motion of a tine
pushes air molecules horizontally to the
right and the backward retraction of the
tine creates a low pressure area allowing
the air particles to move back to the left.
Because of the longitudinal motion of the
air particles, there are regions in the air
where the air particles are compressed
together and other regions where the air
particles are spread apart. These regions
are known as compressions and
rarefactions respectively. The
compressions are regions of high air
pressure while the rarefactions are regions
of low air pressure. The diagram below
depicts a sound wave created by a tuning
fork and propagated through the air in an
open tube. The compressions and
rarefactions are labeled.
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The wavelength of a wave is merely the


distance which a disturbance travels along
the medium in one complete wave cycle.
Since a wave repeats its pattern once every
wave cycle, the wavelength is sometimes
referred to as the length of the repeating
pattern - the length of one complete wave.
For a transverse wave, this length is
commonly measured from one wave crest
to the next adjacent wave crest, or from
one wave trough to the next adjacent wave
trough. Since a longitudinal wave does not
contain crests and troughs, its wavelength
must be measured differently. A
longitudinal wave consists of a repeating
pattern of compressions and rarefactions.
Thus, the wavelength is commonly
measured as the distance from one
compression to the next adjacent
compression or the distance from one
rarefaction to the next adjacent rarefaction.
Since a sound wave consists of a repeating
pattern of high pressure and low pressure
regions moving through a medium, it is
sometimes referred to as a pressure
wave. If a detector, whether it be the
human ear or a man-made instrument, is
used to detect a sound wave, it would
detect fluctuations in pressure as the sound
wave impinges upon the detecting device.
At one instant in time, the detector would
detect a high pressure; this would
correspond to the arrival of a compression
at the detector site. At the next instant in
time, the detector might detect normal
pressure. And then finally a low pressure
would be detected, corresponding to the
arrival of a rarefaction at the detector site.
Since the fluctuations in pressure as
detected by the detector occur at periodic
and regular time intervals, a plot of
pressure vs. time would appear as a sine

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curve. The crests of the sine curve


correspond to compressions; the troughs
correspond to rarefactions; and the "zero
point" corresponds to the pressure which
the air would have if there were no
disturbance moving through it. The diagram
below depicts the correspondence between
the longitudinal nature of a sound wave and
the pressure-time fluctuations which it
creates.

The above diagram can be somewhat


misleading if you are not careful. The
representation of sound by a sine wave is
merely an attempt to illustrate the
sinusoidal nature of the pressure-time
fluctuations. Do not conclude that sound is
a transverse wave which has crests and
troughs. Sound is indeed a longitudinal
wave with compressions and rarefactions.
As sound passes through a medium, the
particles of that medium do not vibrate in a
transverse manner. Do not be misled sound is a longitudinal wave.

Check Your Understanding


1. A sound wave is a pressure wave;
regions of high (compressions) and low
pressure (rarefactions) are established as
the result of the vibrations of the sound
source. These compressions and
rarefactions result because sound
a. is more dense than air and thus has
more inertia, causing the bunching up

2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Pitch and
Frequency
Intensity
and the
Decibel
Scale
The Speed
of Sound
The
Human Ear
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 2: Sound Properties and Their


Perception
Pitch and Frequency
A sound wave, like any other wave, is
introduced into a medium by a vibrating
object. The vibrating object is the source of
the disturbance which moves through the
medium. The vibrating object which creates
the disturbance could be the vocal chords of
a person, the vibrating string and sound
board of a guitar or violin, the vibrating
tines of a tuning fork, or the vibrating
diaphragm of a radio speaker. Regardless of
what vibrating object is creating the sound
wave, the particles of the medium through
which the sound moves is vibrating in a
back and forth motion at a given
frequency. The frequency of a wave refers
to how often the particles of the medium
vibrate when a wave passes through the
medium. The frequency of a wave is
measured as the number of complete backand-forth vibrations of a particle of the
medium per unit of time. If a particle of air
undergoes 1000 longitudinal vibrations in 2
seconds, then the frequency of the wave
would be 500 vibrations per second. A
commonly used unit for frequency is the
Hertz (abbrviated Hz), where
1 Hertz = 1 vibration/second
As a sound wave moves through a medium,
each particle of the medium vibrates at the
same frequency. This is sensible since each
particle vibrates due to the motion of its
nearest neighbor. The first particle of the
medium begins vibrating, at say 500 Hz,
and begins to set the second particle into
vibrational motion at the same frequency of
500 Hz. The second particle begins

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vibrating at 500 Hz and thus sets the third


particle of the medium into vibrational
motion at 500 Hz. The process continues
throughout the medium; each particle
vibrates at the same frequency. And of
course the frequency at which each particle
vibrates is the same as the frequency of the
original source of the sound wave.
Subsequently, a guitar string vibrating at
500 Hz will set the air particles in the room
vibrating at the same frequency of 500 Hz
which carries a sound signal to the ear of a
listener which is detected as a 500 Hz
sound wave.
The back-and-forth vibrational motion of
the particles of the medium would not be
the only observable phenomenon occurring
at a given frequency. Since a sound wave is
a pressure wave, a detector could be used
to detect oscillations in pressure from a
high pressure to a low pressure and back to
a high pressure. As the compression (high
pressure) and rarefaction (low pressure)
disturbances move through the medium,
they would reach the detector at a given
frequency. For example, a compression
would reach the detector 500 times per
second if the frequency of the wave were
500 Hz. Similarly, a rarefaction would reach
the detector 500 times per second if the
frequency of the wave were 500 Hz. Thus
the frequency of a sound wave not only
refers to the number of back-and-forth
vibrations of the particles per unit of time,
but also refers to the number of
compression or rarefaction disturbances
which pass a given point per unit of time. A
detector could be used to detect the
frequency of these pressure oscillations
over a given period of time. The typical
output provided by such a detector is a
pressure-time plot as shown below.
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2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and
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All rights reserved.

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Since a pressure-time plot shows the


fluctuations in pressure over time, the
period of the sound wave can be found by
measuring the time between successive
high pressure points (corresponding to the
compressions) or the time between
successive low pressure points
(corresponding to the rarefactions). As
discussed in an earlier unit, the frequency
is simply the reciprocal of the period. For
this reason, a sound wave with a high
frequency would correspond to a pressure
time plot with a small period - that is, a plot
corresponding to a small amount of time
between successive high pressure points.
Conversely, a sound wave with a low
frequency would correspond to a pressure
time plot with a large period - that is, a plot
corresponding to a large amount of time
between successive high pressure points.
The diagram below shows two pressuretime plots,one corresponding to a high
frequency and the other to a low frequency.

The ears of humans (and other animals) are


sensitive detectors capable of detecting the
fluctuations in air pressure which impinge
upon the eardrum. The mechanics of the
ear's detection ability will be discussed later
in this lesson. For now, it is sufficient to say
that the human ear is capable of detecting

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sound waves with with a wide range of


frequencies, ranging between
approximately 20 Hz to 20 000 Hz. Any
sound with a frequency below the audible
range of hearing (i.e., less than 20 Hz) is
known as an infrasound and any sound
with a frequency above the audible range of
hearing (i.e., more than 20 000 Hz) is
known as an ultrasound. Humans are not
alone in their ability to detect a wide range
of frequencies. Dogs can detect frequencies
as low as approximately 50 Hz and as high
as 45 000 Hz. Cats can detect frequencies
as low as approximately 45 Hz and as high
as 85 000 Hz. Bats, who are essentially
blind and must rely on sound echolation for
navigation and hunting, can detect
frequecies as high as 120 000 Hz. Dolphins
can detect frequencies as high as 200 000
Hz. While dogs, cats, bats, and dolphins
have an unusual ability to detect
ultrasound, an elephant possesses the
unusual ability to detect infrasound, having
an audible range from approximately 5 Hz
to approxmately 10 000 Hz.
The sensations of these frequencies are
commonly referred to as the pitch of a
sound. A high pitch sound corresponds to a
high frequency and a low pitch sound
corresponds to a low frequency. Amazingly,
many people, especially those who hae
been musically trained, are capable of
detecting a difference in frequency between
two separate sounds which is as little as 2
Hz. When two sounds with a frequency
difference of greater than 7 Hz are played
simultaneously, most people are capable of
detecting the presence of a complex wave
pattern resulting from the interference and
superposition of the two sound waves.
Certain sound waves when played (and
heard) simultaneously will produce a
particularly pleasant sensation when heard,
are are said to be consonant. Such sound
waves form the basis of intervals in music.
For example, any two sounds whose
frequencies make a 2:1 ratio are said to be

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separated by an octave and result in a


particularly pleasing sensation when heard;
that is, two sound waves sound good when
played together if one sound has twice the
frequency of the other. Similarly two
sounds with a frequency ratio of 5:4 are
said to be separated by an interval of a
third; such sound waves also sound good
when played together. Examples of other
sound wave intervals and their respective
frequency ratios are listed in the table
below.
Interval

Frequency
Ratio

Examples

Octave

2:1

512 Hz and
256 Hz

Third

5:4

320 Hz and
256 Hz

Fourth

4:3

342 Hz and
256 Hz

Fifth

3:2

384 Hz and
256 Hz

The ability of humans to perceive pitch is


associated with the frequency of the sound
wave which impinges upon the ear.
Because sound waves are longitudinal
waves which produce high- and lowpressure disturbances of the particles of a
medium at a given frequency, the ear has
an ability to detect such frequencies and
associate them with the pitch of the sound.
But pitch is not the only property of a sound
wave detectable by the human ear. In the
next part of Lesson 2, we will investigate
the ability of the ear to perceive the
intensity of a sound wave.

Check Your Understanding


1. Two notes which have a frequency ratio
of 2:1 are said to be separated by an

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Pitch and
Frequency
Intensity
and the
Decibel
Scale
The Speed
of Sound
The
Human Ear
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 2: Sound Properties and Their


Perception
Intensity and the Decibel Scale
A sound wave is introduced into a medium
by the vibration of an object. For example, a
vibrating guitar string forces surrounding air
molecules to be compressed and expanded,
creating a pressure disturbance consisting of
an alternating pattern of
compressions and
rarefactions. The
disturbance then travels
from particle to particle
through the medium,
transporting energy as it moves. The energy
which is carried by the disturbance was
originally imparted to the medium by the
vibrating string. The amount of energy which
is transferred to the medium is dependent
upon the amplitude of vibrations of the
guitar string. If the more energy is put into
the plucking of the string (that is, more work
is done to displace the string a greater
amount from its rest position), then the
string vibrates with a wider amplitude. The
greater amplitude of vibration of the guitar
string thus imparts more energy to the
medium, causing air particles to be
displaced a greater distance from their rest
position. Subsequently, the amplitude of
vibration of the particles of the medium is
increased, corresponding to an increased
amount of energy being carried by the
particles. This relationship between energy
and amplitude was discussed in more detail
in a previous unit.
The amount of energy which is transported
past a given area of the medium per unit of
time is known as the intensity of the sound
wave. The greater the amplitude of

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vibrations of the particles of the medium,


the greater the rate at which energy is
transported through it, and the more intense
that the sound wave is. Intensity is the
energy/time/area; and since the energy/
time ratio is equivalent to the quantity
power, intensity is simply the power/area.

Typical units for expressing the intensity of a


sound wave are Watts/meter2.
As a sound wave carries its energy through
a two-dimensional or three-dimensional
medium, the intensity of the sound wave
decreases with increasing distance from the
source. The decrease in
intensity with increasing
distance is explained by the
fact that the wave is
spreading out over a circular
(2 dimensions) or spherical (3
dimensions) surface and thus
the energy of the sound wave
is being distributed over a greater surface
area. The diagram at the right shows that
the sound wave in a 2-dimensional medium
is spreading out in space over a circular
pattern. Since energy is conserved and the
area through which this energy is
transported is increasing, the power (being a
quantity which is measured on a per area
basis) must decrease. The mathematical
relationship between intensity and distance
is sometimes referred to as an inverse
square relationship. As the intensity
varies inversely with the square of the
distance from the source. So if the distance
from the source is doubled (increased by a
factor of 2), then the intensity is quartered
(decreased by a factor of 4). Similarly, if the
distance from the source is quadrupled, then
the intensity is decreased by a factor of 16.
Applied to the diagram at the right, the
intensity at point B is one-fourth the
intensity as point A and the intensity at
point C is one-sixteenth the intensity at

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point A. Since the intensity-distance


relationship is an inverse relationship, an
increase in one quantity corresponds to a
decrease in the other quantity. And since
the intensity-distance relationship is an
inverse square relationship, whatever factor
by which the distance is increased, the
intensity is decreased by a factor equal to
the square of the "distance change factor."
The sample data in the table below illustrate
the inverse square relationship between
power and distance.
Distance
1m
2m
3m
4m

Intensity
160 units
40 units
17.8 units
10 units

Humans are equipped with very sensitive


ears capable of detecting sound waves of
extremely low intensity. The faintest sound
which the typical human ear can detect has
an intensity of 1*10-12 W/m2. This intensity
corresponds to a pressure wave in which a
compression of the particles of the medium
increases the air pressure in that
compressional region by a mere 0.3
billionths of an atmosphere. A sound with an
intensity of 1*10-12 W/m2 corresponds to a
sound which will displace particles of air by a
mere one-billionth of a centimeter. The
human ear can detect such a sound. WOW!
This faintest sound which the human ear can
detect is known as the threshold of
hearing. The most intense sound which the
ear can safely detect without suffering any
physical damage is more than one billion
times more intense than the threshold of
hearing.
Since the range of intensities which the
human ear can detect is so large, the scale
which is frequently used by physicists to
measure intensity is a scale based on

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multiples of 10. This type of scale is


sometimes referred to as a logarithmic
scale. The scale for measuring intensity is
the decibel scale. The threshold of hearing
is assigned a sound level of 0 decibels
(abbreviated 0 dB); this sound corresponds
to an intensity of 1*10-12 W/m2. A sound
which is 10 times more intense ( 1*10-11
W/m2) is assigned a sound level of 10 dB. A
sound which is 10*10 or 100 times more
intense ( 1*10-10 W/m2) is assigned a
sound level of 20 db. A sound which is
10*10*10 or 1000 times more intense (
1*10-9 W/m2) is assigned a sound level of
30 db. A sound which is 10*10*10*10 or
10000 times more intense ( 1*10 -8 W/m2)
is assigned a sound level of 40 db. Observe
that this scale is based on powers or
multiples of 10. If one sound is 10x times
more intense than another sound, then it
has a sound level which is 10*x more
decibels than the less intense sound. The
table below lists some common sounds with
an estimate of their intensity and decibel
level.

Source

Intensity

Threshold of
Hearing
(TOH)

1*10-12
W/m2

Rustling
Leaves

1*10-11
W/m2
1*10-10
W/m2

Whisper

Intensity
Level

#
Times
Greater
Than
TOH

0 dB

100

10 dB

101

20 dB

102

Normal
Conversation

1*10-6
W/m2

60 dB

106

Busy Street
Traffic

1*10-5
W/m2

70 dB

107

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Page 5

Vacuum
Cleaner
Large
Orchestra

1*10-4
W/m2
6.3*10-3
W/m2

Walkman at
Maximum
Level

1*10-2
W/m2

100 dB

1010

Front Rows of
Rock Concert

1*10-1
W/m2

110 dB

1011

130 dB

1013

140 dB

1014

160 dB

1016

Threshold of 1*101 W/
Pain
m2
Military Jet 1*102 W/
Takeoff
m2
Instant
1*104 W/
Perforation of
m2
Eardrum

80 dB

108

98 dB

109.8

While the intensity of a sound is a very


objective quantity which can be measured
with sensitive instrumentation, the
loudness of a sound is more of a subjective
response which will vary with a number of
factors. The same sound will not be
perceived to have the same loudness to all
individuals. Age is one factor which effects
the human ear's response to a sound. Quite
obviously, your grandparents do not hear
like they used to. The same intensity sound
would not be perceived to have the same
loudness to them as it would to you.
Furthermore, two sounds with the same
intensity but different frequencies will not be
perceived to have the same loudness.
Because of the human ear's tendency to
amplify sounds having frequencies in the
range from 1000 Hz to 5000 Hz, sounds with
these intensities seem louder to the human
ear. Despite the distinction between
intensity and loudness, it is safe to state
that the more intense sounds will be
perceived to be the loudest sounds.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Pitch and
Frequency
Intensity
and the
Decibel
Scale
The Speed
of Sound
The
Human Ear
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 2: Sound Properties and Their


Perception
The Speed of Sound
A sound wave is a pressure disturbance
which travels through a medium by means
of particle interaction. As one particle
becomes disturbed, it exerts a force on the
next adjacent particle, thus disturbing that
particle from rest and transporting the
energy through the medium. Like any
wave, the speed of a sound wave refers to
how fast the disturbance is passed from
particle to particle. While frequency refers
to the number of vibrations which an
individual particle makes per unit of time,
speed refers to the distance which the
disturbance travels per unit of time. Always
be cautious to distinguish between the two
often confused quantities of speed (how
fast...) and frequency (how often...).
Since the speed of a wave is defined as the
distance which a point on a wave (such as a
compression or a rarefaction) travels per
unit of time, it is often expressed in units of
meters/second (abbreviated m/s). In
equation form, this is
speed = distance/time
The faster which a sound wave travels, the
more distance it will cover in the same
period of time. If a sound wave is observed
to travel a distance of 700 meters in 2
seconds, then the speed of the wave would
be 350 m/s. A slower wave would cover
less distance - perhaps 600 meters - in the
same time period of 2 seconds and thus
have a speed of 300 m/s. Faster waves
cover more distance in the same period of
time.

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Page 2

The speed of any wave depends upon the


properties of the medium through which the
wave is traveling. Typically there are two
essential types of properties which effect
wave speed - inertial properties and elastic
properties. The density of a medium is an
example of an inertial property. The
greater the inertia (i.e., mass density) of
individual particles of the medium, the less
responsive they will be to the interactions
between neighboring particles and the
slower the wave. If all other factors are
equal (and seldom is it that simple), a
sound wave will travel faster in a less dense
material than a more dense material. Thus,
a sound wave will travel nearly three times
faster in Helium as it will in air; this is
mostly due to the lower mass of Helium
particles as compared to air particles.
Elastic properties are those properties
related to the tendency of a material to
either maintain its shape and not deform
whenever a force or stress is applied to it. A
material such as steel will experience a
very small deformation of shape (and
dimension) when a stress is applied to it.
Steel is a rigid material with a high
elasticity. On the other hand, a material
such as a rubber band is highly flexible;
when a force is applied to stretch the
rubber band, it deforms or changes its
shape readily. A small stress on the rubber
band causes a large deformation. Steel is
considered to be a stiff or rigid material,
whereas a rubber band is considered a
flexible material. At the particle level, a stiff
or rigid material is characterized by atoms
and/or molecules with strong attractions for
each other. When a force is applied in an
attempt to stretch or deform the material,
its strong particle interactions prevent this
deformation and help the material maintain
its shape. Rigid materials such as steel are
considered to have a high elasticity (elastic
modulus is the technical term). The phase
of matter has a tremendous impact upon

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Page 3

the elastic properties of the medium. In


general, solids have the strongest
interactions between particles, followed by
liquids and then gases. For this reason,
longitudinal sound waves travel faster in
solids than they do in liquids than they do
in gases. Even though the inertial factor
may favor gases, the elastic factor has a
greater influence on the speed (v) of a
wave, thus yielding this general pattern:
vsolids > v liquids > v gases
The speed of a sound wave in air depends
upon the properties of the air, namely the
temperature and the pressure. The
pressure of air (like any gas) will effect the
mass density of the air (an inertial
property) and the temperature will effect
the strength of the particle interactions (an
elastic property). At normal atmospheric
pressure, the temperature dependence of
the speed of a sound wave through air is
approximated by the following equation:
v = 331 m/s + (0.6 m/s/C)*T
where T is the temperature of the air in
degrees Celsius. Using this equation is used
to determine the speed of a sound wave in
air at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius
yields the following solution.
v = 331 m/s + (0.6 m/s/C)*T
v = 331 m/s + (0.6 m/s/C)*20 C
v = 331 m/s + 12 m/s
v = 343 m/s

At normal atmospheric pressure and a


temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, a sound
wave will travel at approximately 343 m/s;
this is approximately equal to 750 miles/
hour. While this speed may seem fast by
human standards (the fastest humans can
sprint at approximately 11 m/s and highway
speeds are approximately 30 m/s), the

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Page 4

speed of a sound wave is slow in


comparison to the speed of a light wave.
Light travels through air at a speed of
approximately 300 000 000 m/s; this is
nearly 900 000 times the speed of sound.
For this reason, humans can observe a
detectable time delay between the thunder
and lightning during a storm. The arrival of
the light wave from the location of the
lightning strike occurs in so little time that
it is essentially negligible. Yet the arrival of
the sound wave from the location of the
lightning strike occurs much later. The time
delay between the arrival of the light wave
(lightning) and the arrival of the sound
wave (thunder) allows a person to
approximate his/her distance from the
storm location. For instance if the thunder
is heard 3 seconds after the lightning is
seen, then sound (whose speed is
approximated as 345 m/s) has traveled a
distance of
distance = v * t = 345 m/s * 3 s = 1035
m
If this value is converted to miles (divide by
1600 m/1 mi), then the storm is a distance
of 0.65 miles away.

Another phenomenon related to the


perception of time delays between two
events is the phenomenon of echolation. A
person can often perceive a time delay
between the production of a sound and the
arrival of a reflection of that sound off a
distant barrier. If you have ever made a
holler within a canyon, perhaps you have
heard an echo of your holler off a distant
canyon wall. The time delay between the
holler and the echo corresponds to the time
for the holler to travel the round-trip
distance to the canyon wall and back. A
measurement of this time would allow a
person to estimate the one-way distance to
the canyon wall. For instance if an echo is
heard 2.2 seconds after making the holler,

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then the distance to the canyon wall can be


found as follows:
distance = v * t = 345 m/s * 1.1 s = 380
m
The canyon wall is 380 meters away. You
might have noticed that the time of 1.1
seconds is used in the equation. Since the
time delay corresponds to the time for the
holler to travel the round-trip distance to
the canyon wall and back, the one-way
distance to the canyon wall corresponds to
one-half the time delay.
While the phenomenon of echolation is of
relatively minimal importance to humans, it
is an essential trick of the trade for bats.
Being merely blind, bats must use sound
waves to navigate and hunt. They produce
short bursts of ultrasonic sound waves
which reflect off their surroundings and
return. Their detection of the time delay
between the sending and receiving of the
pulses allows a bat to approximate the
distance to surrounding objects. Some bats,
known as Doppler bats, are capable of
detecting the speed and direction of any
moving objects by monitoring the changes
in frequency of the reflected pulses. These
bats are utilizing the physics of the Doppler
effect discussed in an earlier unit (and also
to be discussed later in Lesson 3). This
method of echolation enables a bat to
navigate and to hunt.
Like any wave, a sound wave has a speed
which is mathematically related to the
frequency and the wavelength of the wave.
As discussed in a previous unit, the
mathematical relationship between speed,
frequency and wavelength is given be the
following equation.
Speed = Wavelength * Frequency
Using the symbols v, , and f, the equation
can be re-written as
v=f*

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The above equations are useful for solving


mathematical problems related to the
speed, frequency and wavelength
relationship. However, one important
misconception could be conveyed by the
equation. Even though wave speed is
calculated using the frequency and the
wavelength, the wave speed is not
dependent upon these quantities. An
alteration in wavelength does not effect
(i.e., change) wave speed. Rather, an
alteration in wavelength effects the
frequency in an inverse manner. A doubling
of the wavelength results in a halving of the
frequency; yet the wave speed is not
changed. The speed of a sound wave
depends on the properties of the medium
through which it moves and the only way to
change the speed is to change the
properties of the medium.

Check Your Understanding


1. An automatic focus camera is able to
focus on objects by use of an ultrasonic
sound wave. The camera sends out sound
waves which reflect off distant objects and
return to the camera. A sensor detects the
time it takes for the waves to return and
then determines the distance an object is
from the camera. If a sound wave (speed =
340 m/s) returns to the camera 0.150
seconds after leaving the camera, how far
away is the object?

2. The annoying sound from a mosquito is


produced when it beats its wings at the
average rate of 600 wingbeats per second.
a. What is the frequency in Hertz of the
sound wave?

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Pitch and
Frequency
Intensity
and the
Decibel
Scale
The Speed
of Sound
The
Human Ear
Lesson 3
Lesson 4

Page 1

Lesson 2: Sound Properties and Their


Perception
The Human Ear
Understanding how humans hear is a
complex subject involving the fields of
physiology, psychology and acoustics. In
this part of Lesson 2, we will focus on the
acoustics (the branch of physics pertaining
to sound) of hearing. We will attempt to
understand how the human ear serves as
an astounding transducer, converting sound
energy to mechanical energy to a nerve
impulse which is transmitted to the brain.
The ear's ability to do this allows us to
perceive the pitch of sounds by detection of
the wave's frequencies, the loudness of
sound by detection of the wave's amplitude
and the timbre of the sound by the
detection of the various frequencies which
make up a complex sound wave.
The ear consists of three basic parts - the
outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner
ear. Each part of the ear serves a specific
purpose in the task of detecting and
interpreting sound. The outer ear serves to
collect and channel sound to the middle
ear. The middle ear serves to transform the
energy of a sound wave into the internal
vibrations of the bone structure of the
middle ear and ultimately transform these
vibrations into a compressional wave in the
inner ear. The inner ear serves to transform
the energy of a compressional wave within
the inner ear fluid into nerve impulses
which can be transmitted to the brain. The
three parts of the ear are shown below.
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The outer ear consists of an ear flap and an


approximately 2-cm long ear canal. The ear
flap provides protection for the middle ear
in order to prevent damage to the eardrum.
The outer ear also channels sound waves
which reach the ear through the ear canal
to the eardrum of the middle ear. Because
of the length of the ear canal, it is capable
of amplifying sounds with frequencies of
approximately 3000 Hz. As sound travels
through the outer ear, the sound is still in
the form of a pressure wave, with an
alternating pattern of high and low pressure
regions. It is not until the sound reaches
the eardrum at the interface of the outer
and the middle ear that the energy of the
mechanical wave becomes converted into
vibrations of the inner bone structure of the
ear.
The middle ear is an air-filled cavity which
consists of an eardrum and three tiny,
interconnected bones - the
hammer, anvil, and stirrup.
The eardrum is a very
durable and tightly
stretched membrane which
vibrates as the incoming pressure waves
reach it. As shown at the right, a
compression forces the eardrum inward and
a rarefaction forces the eardrum outward,
thus vibrating the eardrum at the same
frequency of the sound wave. Being
connected to the hammer, the movements
of the eardrum will set the hammer, anvil,
and stirrup into motion at the same
frequency of the sound wave. The stirrup is
All rights reserved.

The Physics Classroom

Page 3

connected to the inner ear; and thus the


vibrations of the stirrup are transmitted to
the fluid of the middle ear and create a
compression wave within the fluid. The
three tiny bones of the middle ear act as
levers to amplify the vibrations of the
sound wave. Due to a mechanical
advantage, the displacements of the stirrup
are greater than that of the hammer.
Furthermore, since the pressure wave
striking the large area of the eardrum is
concentrated into the smaller area of the
stirrup, the force of the vibrating stirrup is
nearly 15 times larger than that of the
eardrum. This feature enhances our ability
of hear the faintest of sounds. The middle
ear is an air-filled cavity which is connected
by the Eustachian tube to the mouth. This
connection allows for the equalization of
pressure within the air-filled cavities of the
ear. When this tube becomes clogged
during a cold, the ear cavity is unable to
equalize its pressure; this will often lead to
earaches and other pains.
The inner ear consists of a cochlea, the
semicircular canals, and the auditory nerve.
The cochlea and the semicircular canals are
filled with a water-like fluid. The fluid and
nerve cells of the semicircular canals
provide no roll in the task of hearing; they
merely serve as accelerometers for
detecting accelerated movements and
assisting in the task of maintaining balance.
The cochlea is a snail-shaped organ which
would stretch to approximately 3 cm. In
addition to being filled with fluid, the inner
surface of the cochlea is lined with over 20
000 hair-like nerve cells which perform one
of the most critical roles in our ability to
hear. These nerve cells have a differ in
length by minuscule amounts; they also
have different degrees of resiliency to the
fluid which passes over them. As a
compressional wave moves from the
interface between the hammer of the
middle ear and the oval window of the inner
ear through the cochlea, the small hair-like

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Page 4

nerve cells will be set in motion. Each hair


cell has a natural sensitivity to a particular
frequency of vibration. When the frequency
of the compressional wave matches the
natural frequency of the nerve cell, that
nerve cell will resonate with a larger
amplitude of vibration. This increased
vibrational amplitude induces the cell to
release an electrical impulse which passes
along the auditory nerve towards the brain.
In a process which is not clearly
understood, the brain is capable of
interpreting the qualities of the sound upon
reception of these electric nerve impulses.
Go to Lesson 3

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Interference
and Beats
The Doppler
Effect and
Shock
Waves
Boundary
Behavior
Reflection,
Refraction,
and
Diffraction
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 3: Behavior of Sound Waves


Interference and Beats
Wave interference is the phenomenon
which occurs when two waves meet while
traveling along the same medium. The
interference of waves causes the medium to
take on a shape which results from the net
effect of the two individual waves upon the
particles of the medium. As mentioned in a
previous unit of The Physics Classroom, if
two crests having the same shape meet up
with one another while traveling in opposite
directions along a medium, the medium will
take on the shape of a crest with twice the
amplitude of the two interfering crests. This
type of interference is known as
constructive interference. If a crest and
a trough having the same shape meet up
with one another while traveling in opposite
directions along a medium, the two pulses
will cancel each other's effect upon the
displacement of the medium and the
medium will assume the equilibrium
position. This type of interference is known
as destructive interference. The
diagrams below show two waves - one is
blue and the other is red - interfering in
such a way to produce a resultant shape in
a medium; the resultant is shown in green.
In two cases (on the left and in the
middle), constructive interference occurs
and in the third case (on the far right,
destructive interference occurs.

But how can sound waves which do not


possess crests and troughs interfere

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Page 2

constructively and destructively? Sound is a


pressure wave which consists of
compressions and rarefactions. As a
compression passes through a section of a
medium, it tends to pull particles together
into a small region of space, thus creating a
high pressure region. And as a rarefaction
passes through a section of a medium, it
tends to push particles apart, thus creating
a low pressure region. The interference of
sound waves causes the particles of the
medium to behave in a manner that reflects
the net effect of the two individual waves
upon the particles. For example, if a
compression (high pressure) of one wave
meets up with a compression (high
pressure) of a second wave at the same
location in the medium, then the net effect
is that that particular location will
experience an even greater pressure. This
is a form of constructive interference. If two
rarefactions (two low pressure
disturbances) from two different sound
waves meet up at the same location, then
the net effect is that that particular location
will experience an even lower pressure.
This is also an example of constructive
interference. Now if a particular location
along the medium repeatedly experiences
the interference of two compressions
followed up by the interference of two
rarefactions, then the two sound waves will
continually reinforce each other and
produce a very loud sound. The loudness of
the sound is the result of the particles at
that location of the medium undergoing
oscillations from very high to very low
pressures. As mentioned in a previous unit,
locations along the medium where
constructive interference continually occurs
are known as anti-nodes. The animation
below shows two sound waves interfering
construcively in order to produce very large
oscillations in pressure at a variety of antinodal locations. Note that compressions are
labeled with a C and rarefactions are
labeled with an R.

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Page 3

Now if two sound waves interfere at a given


location in such a way that the compression
of one wave meets up with the rarefaction
of a second wave, destructive interference
results. The net effect of a compression
(which pushes particles together) and a
rarefaction (which pulls particles apart)
upon the particles in a given region of the
medium is to not even cause a
displacement of the particles. The tendency
of the compression to push particles
together is cancelled by the tendency of the
rarefactions to pull particles apart; the
particles would remain at their rest position
as though there wasn't even a disturbance
passing through them. This is a form of
destructive interference. Now if a particular
location along the medium repeatedly
experiences the interference of a
compression and rarefaction followed up by
the interference of a rarefaction and a
compression, then the two sound waves will
continually cancel each other and no sound
is heard. The absence of sound is the result
of the particles remaining at rest and
behaving as though there were no
disturbance passing through it. Amazingly,
in a situation such as this, two sound waves
would combine to produce no sound. As
mentioned in a previous unit, locations
along the medium where destructive
interference continually occurs are known
as nodes.
You might remember the popular classroom
demonstration involving the interference of
two sound waves from two speakers. The
speakers were set approximately 1 meter
apart and produced identical tones. The two
sound waves traveled through the air in
front of the speakers, spreading our
through the room in spherical fashion. A
snapshot in time of the appearance of these
waves is shown in the diagram below. In
the diagram, the compressions of a

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Page 4

wavefront are represented by a thick line


and the rarefactions are represented by
thin lines. These two waves interfere in
such a manner as to produce locations of
some loud sounds and other locations of no
sound. Of course the loud sounds are heard
at locations where ccompressions meet
compressions or rarefactions meet
rarefactions and the "no sound" locations
appear wherever the compressions of one
of the waves meet the rarefactions of the
other wave. If you were to plug one ear and
turn the other ear towards the place of the
speakers and then slowly walk across the
room parallel to the plane of the speakers,
then you would encounter an amazing
phenomenon. You would alternatively hear
loud sounds as you approached anti-nodal
locations and virtually no sound as you
approached nodal locations. (As you may
have observed, the nodal locations were
not true nodal locations due to reflections of
sound waves off the walls which tended to
fill the entire room with reflected sound.
Even though the sound waves which
reached the nodal locations directly from
the speakers destructively interfered, other
waves reflecting off the walls tended to
reach that same location to produce a
pressure disturbance.)

Destructive interference of sound waves


becomes an important issue in the design of
concert halls and auditoriums. The rooms
must be designed in such as way as to
reduce the amount of destructive
interference. Interference can occur as the
result of sound from two speakers meeting
at the same location as well as the result of
sound from a speaker meeting with sound

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Page 5

reflected off the walls and ceilings. If the


sound arrives at a given location such that
compressions meet rarefactions, then
destructive interference will occur resulting
in a reduction in the loudness of the sound
at that location. One means of reducing the
severity of destructive interference is by the
design of walls, ceilings, and baffles that
serve to absorb sound rather than reflect it.
This will be discussed in more detail later in
Lesson 3.
The destructive interference of sound waves
can also be used for advantageously in
noise reduction systems. Ear phones
have been produced which can be used by
factory and construction workers to reduce
the noise levels on their jobs. Such ear
phones capture sound from the
environment and use computer technology
to produce a second sound wave which
one-half cycle out of phase. The
combination of these two sound waves
within the headset will result in destructive
interference and thus reduce a worker's
exposure to loud noise.
Interference of sound waves has
widespread applications in the world of
music. Music seldom consists of sound
waves of a single frequency played
continuously. Few music enthusiasts would
be impressed by an orchestra which played
music consisting of the note with a pure
tone played by all instruments in the
orchestra. Hearing a sound wave of 256 Hz
(middle C) would become rather
monotonous (both literally and figuratively).
Rather, instruments are known to produce
overtones when played resulting in a sound
which consists of a multiple of frequencies.
Such instruments are described as being
rich in tone color. And even the best choirs
will earn their money when two singers sing
two notes (i.e., produce two sound waves)
which are an octave apart. Music is a
mixture of sound waves which typically
have whole number ratios between the

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Page 6

frequencies associated with their notes. In


fact, the major distinction between music
and noise is that noise consists of a mixture
of frequencies which have no mathematical
order to them and music consists of a
mixture of frequencies which have a clear
mathematical relationship between them.
While it may be true that "one person's
music is another person's noise" (e.g., your
music might be thought of by your parents
as being noise), a physical analysis of
musical sounds reveals a mixture of sound
waves which are mathematically related.
To demonstrate this nature of music, let's
consider one of the simplest mixtures of
two different sound waves - two sound
waves with a 2:1 frequency ratio. This
combination of waves is known as an
octave. A simple sinusoidal plot of the wave
pattern for two such waves is shown below.
Note that the red wave has two times the
frequency of the blue wave. Also observe
that the interference of these two waves
produces a resultant (in green) which has a
periodic and repeating pattern. One might
say that two sound waves which have a
clear whole number ratio between their
frequencies interfere to produce a wave
with a regular and repeating pattern; the
result is music.

Another simple example of two sound


waves with a clear mathematical
relationship between frequencies is shown
below. Note that the red wave has threehalves the frequency of the blue wave. In
the music world, such waves are said to be
a fifth apart and represent a popular
musical interval. Observe once more that
the interference of these two waves
produces a resultant (in green) which has a
periodic and repeating pattern. It should be

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Page 7

said again: two sound waves which have a


clear whole number ratio between their
frequencies interfere to produce a wave
with a regular and repeating pattern; the
result is music.

Finally, the diagram below illustrates an


example of noise. The diagram shows two
waves interfering, but this time there is no
clear mathematical relationship between
their frequencies (in computer terms, one
has a wavelength of 37 and the other has a
wavelength 20 pixels). Observe (look
carefully) that the pattern of the resultant
is neither periodic nor repeating. The
message is clear: if two sound waves which
have no simple mathematical relationship
between their frequencies interfere to
produce a wave, the result will be an
irregular and non-repeating pattern; this is
"noise."

A final application of music to the world of


physics pertains to the topic of beats.
Beats are the periodic and repeating
fluctuations heard in the intensity of a
sound when two sound waves of very
similar frequencies interfere with one
another. The diagram below illustrates the
wave interference pattern resulting from
two waves (drawn in red and blue) with
very similar frequencies. A beat pattern is
characterized by a wave whose amplitude is
changing at a regular rate. Observe that
the beat pattern (drawn in green)

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Page 8

repeatedly oscillates from zero amplitude to


a large amplitude, back to zero amplitude
throughout the pattern. Points of
constructive interference (C.I.) and
destructive interference (D.I.) are labeled
on the diagram. When constructive
interference occurs, a loud sound is heard;
this corresponds to a peak on the beat
pattern (drawn in green). When destructive
interference occurs, no sound is heard; this
corresponds to a point of no displacement
on the beat pattern. Since there is a clear
realtionship between the amplitude and the
loudness, this beat pattern would be
consistent with a wave which varies in
volume at a regular rate.

The beat frequency refers to the rate at


which the volume is heard to be oscillating
from high to low volume. For example, if
two complete cycles of high and low
volumes are heard every second, the beat
frequency is 2 Hz. The beat frequency is
always equal to the difference in frequency
of the two notes which interfere to produce
the beats. So if two sound waves with
frequencies of 256 Hz and 254 Hz are
played simultaneously, a beat frequency of
2 Hz will be detected. Beats were produced
in a classroom demonstration using two
tuning forks. Though the tuning forks were
identical, the frequency of one of the forks
was lowered by wrapping one of the tines
with a rubber bands. The result was that
the two tuning forks produced sounds with
slightly different frequencies which

The Physics Classroom

Page 9

interfered to produce detectable beats. The


human ear is capable of detecting beats
with frequencies of 7 Hz and below.
A piano tuner frequently utilizes the
phenomenon of beats to tune a piano
string. She will pluck the string and tap a
tuning fork at the same time. If the two
sound sources - the piano string and the
tunng fork - produce detectable beats then
their frequencies are not identical. She will
then adjust the tension of the piano string
and repeat the process until the beats can
no longer be heard. As the piano string
becomes more in tune with the tuning fork,
the beat frequency will be reduced and
approach 0 Hz. When beats are no longer
heard, the piano string is tuned to the
tuning fork; that is, they play the same
frequency.
Important Note: Many of the diagrams on
this page represent a sound wave by a sine
wave. Such a wave more closely resembles
a transverse wave and may mislead people
into thinking that sound is a transverse
wave. Sound is not a transverse wave, but
rather a longitudinal wave. Nonetheless,
the variations in pressure with time take on
the pattern of a sine wave and thus a sine
wave is often used to represent the
pressure-time features of a sound wave.

Check Your Understanding


Two speakers are
arranged so that
sound waves with
the same
frequency are
produced and
radiate through
the room. An
interference
pattern is created
(as represented
in the diagram at
the right). The

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Interference
and Beats
The Doppler
Effect and
Shock
Waves
Boundary
Behavior
Reflection,
Refraction,
and
Diffraction
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 3: Behavior of Sound Waves


The Doppler Effect and Shock Waves
The Doppler effect is a phenomenon
observed whenever the source of waves is
moving with respect to an observer. The
Doppler effect can be described as the
effect produced by a moving source of
waves in which there is an apparent upward
shift in frequency for the observer and the
source are approaching and an apparent
downward shift in frequency when the
observer and the source is receding. The
Doppler effect can be observed to occur
with all types of waves - most notably
water waves, sound waves, and light
waves. The application of this phenomenon
to water waves was discussed in detail in
Unit 10 of The Physics Classroom; in this
unit, we will focus on the application of the
Doppler effect to sound.
We are most familiar with the Doppler
effect because of our experiences with
sound waves. Perhaps you recall an
instance in which a police car or emergency
vehicle was traveling towards you on the
highway. As the car approached with its
siren blasting, the pitch of the siren sound
(a measure of the siren's frequency) was
high; and then suddenly after the car
passed by, the pitch of the siren sound was
low. That was the Doppler effect - an
apparent shift in frequency for a sound
wave produced by a moving source.
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2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and
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All rights reserved.

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Page 2

And perhaps you recall the laser disc


segment shown in class involving the
approach of the snow plow with its blaring
horn. As the snow plow approach, the
sound of its horn was hear at a high pitch
and as the snow plow moved away, the
sound of its horn was heard at a low pitch.
And finally, you might recall the nerf ball
demonstration performed in class. A nerf
ball was equipped with a buzzer which
produced a sound with a constant
frequency. The ball was then through
around the room. As the ball approached
you, you observed a higher pitch than when
the ball was at rest. And when the ball was
thrown away from you, you observed a
lower pitch than when it was at rest. These
are all examples of the Doppler effect. But
why does it happen?
The Doppler effect is observed because the
distance between the source of sound and
the observer is changing. If the source and
the observer are approaching, then the
distance is decreasing and if the source and
the observer are receding, then the
distance is increasing. The source of sound
always emits the same frequency.
Therefore, for the same period of time, the
same number of waves must fit between
the source and the observer. if the distance
is large, then the waves can be spread
apart; but if the distance is small, the
waves must be compressed into the smaller
distance. For these reasons, if the source is
moving towards the observer, the observer
perceives sound waves reaching him or her
at a more frequent rate (high pitch); and if
the source is moving away from the
observer, the observer perceives sound

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Page 3

waves reaching him or her at a less


frequent rate (low pitch). It is important to
note that the effect does not result because
of an actual change in the frequency of the
source. The source puts out the same
frequency; the observer only perceives a
different frequency because of the relative
motion between them.

The Doppler effect is


observed whenever the
speed of the source is
moving slower than the
speed of the waves. But if
the source actually moves at
the same speed as or faster
than the wave itself can
move, a different
phenomenon is observed. If
a moving source of sound
moves at the same speed as
sound, then the source will always be at the
leading edge of the waves which it
produces. The diagram at the right depicts
snapshots in time of a variety of wavefronts
produced by an aircraft which is moving at
the same speed as sound. The circular lines
represent compressional wavefronts of the
sound waves. Notice that these circles are
bunched up at the front of the aircraft. This
phenomenon is known as a shock wave.
Shock waves are also produced if the
aircraft moves faster than the speed of
sound. If a moving source of sound moves
faster than sound, the source will always be
ahead of the waves which it produces. The
diagram at the right depicts snapshots in
time of a variety of wavefronts produced by
an aircraft which is moving faster than

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Page 4

sound. Note that the circular compressional


wavefronts fall behind the faster moving
aircraft (in actuality, these circles would be
spheres).
If you are standing on the ground when a
supersonic (faster than sound) aircraft
passes overhead, you might hear a sonic
boom. A sonic boom occurs as the result
of the piling up of compressional
wavefronts along the conical edge of the
wave pattern. These compressional
wavefronts pile up and interfere to produce
a very high pressure zone. This is shown
below. Instead of these compressional
regions (high pressure regions) reaching
you one at a time in consecutive fashion,
they all reach you at once. Since every
compression is followed by a rarefaction,
the high pressure zone will be immediately
followed by a low pressure zone. This
creates a very loud noise.

If you are standing on the ground as the


supersonic aircraft passes by, there will be
a short time delay and then you will hear
the boom - the sonic boom. This boom is
merely a loud noise resulting from the high
pressure sound followed by a low pressure
sound. Do not be mistaken into thinking
that this boom only happens the instant
that the aircraft surpasses the speed of
sound and that it is the signature that the
aircraft just attained supersonic speed.
Sonic booms are observed when any
aircraft which is traveling faster than the
speed of sound passes overhead. It is not a
sign that the aircraft just overcame the
sound barrier, but rather a sign that the
aircraft is traveling faster than sound.

The Physics Classroom

Page 5

Check Your Understanding


Suppose a train is approaching you as you
stand on the loading platform at the railway
station. As the train approaches, it slows
down. All the while, the engineer is
sounding the horn at a constant frequency
of 500 Hz. Describe the pitch and the
changes in pitch that you hear.

NEXT >>

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Interference
and Beats
The Doppler
Effect and
Shock
Waves
Boundary
Behavior
Reflection,
Refraction,
and
Diffraction
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 3: Behavior of Sound Waves


Boundary Behavior
As a sound wave travels through a medium,
it will often reach the end of the medium
and encounter an obstacle or perhaps
another medium through which it could
travel. When one medium ends, another
medium begins; the interface of the two
media is referred to as the boundary and
the behavior of a wave at that boundary is
described as its boundary behavior. The
behavior of a wave (or pulse) upon
reaching the end of a medium is referred to
as boundary behavior. There are
essentially four possible boundary
behaviors by which a sound wave could
behave: reflection (the bouncing off of the
boundary), diffraction (the bending around
the obstacle without crossing over the
boundary), transmission (the crossing of
the boundary into the new material or
obstacle), and refraction (occurs along with
transmission and is characterized by the
subsequent change in speed and direction).
In this part of Lesson 3, the focus will be
upon the reflection behavior of sound
waves. Later in Lesson 3, diffraction,
transmission, and refraction will be
discussed in more detail.
In Unit 10 of The Physics Classroom, the
boundary behavior of a pulse on a rope was
discussed. In that
unit, it was
mentioned that there
are two types of
reflection for waves
on ropes: fixed end reflection and free end
reflection. A pulse moving through a rope
will eventually reach its end. Upon reaching
the end of the medium, two things occur:

The Physics Classroom

Page 2

A portion of the energy carried by the


pulse is reflected and returns towards
the left end of the rope. The disturbance
which returns to the left is known as the
reflected pulse.
A portion of the energy carried by the
pulse is transmitted into the new
medium. If the rope is attached to a
pole (as shown at the right), the pole
will receive some of the energy and
begin to vibrate. If the rope is not
attached to a pole but rather resting on
the ground, then a portion of the energy
is transmitted into the air (the new
medium), causing slight disturbances of
the the air particles.
In the situation in which the rope is
attached to the pole, fixed end reflection
occurs. For the reflected pulse off the fixed
end, there is one very notable observation:
the reflected pulse is inverted. That is, if a
crest is incident towards a fixed end, it will
reflect and return as a trough. Similarly, if
a trough is incident towards a fixed end, it
will reflect and return as a crest.

In the situation in which the rope is not


attached to the pole nor firmly attached to
any other medium heavier than itself (such
as another rope), free end reflection
occurs. The reflected pulse off a free end is
never inverted. That is, if a crest is incident
towards a free end, it will reflect and return
as a crest. Similarly, if a trough is incident
towards a free end, it will reflect and return
as a trough.

In each case (free and fixed end reflection,


the amount of energy which becomes
reflected is dependent upon the
dissimilarity of the two medium. The more
similar that the two medium on each side of
the boundary are, the less reflection which

The Physics Classroom

Page 3

occurs and the more transmission which


occurs. Conversely, the less similar that the
two medium on each side of the boundary
are, the more reflection which occurs and
the less transmission which occurs. So if a
heavy rope is attached to a light rope (two
very dissimilar medium), little transmission
and mostly reflection occurs. And if a heavy
rope is attached to another heavy rope (two
very similar medium), little reflection and
mostly transmission occurs.

The more similar the medium, the more


transmission which occurs.

These principles of free and fixed end


reflection can be applied to sound waves.
Though a sound wave does not consist of
crests and troughs, they do consist of
compressions and rarefactions. If a sound
wave is traveling through a cylindrical tube,
it will eventually come to the end of the
tube. The end of the tube represents a
boundary between the enclosed air in the
tube and the expanse of air outside of the
tube. Upon reaching the end of the tube,
the sound wave will undergo partial
reflection and partial transmission. That is,
a portion of the energy carried by the
sound wave will pass across the boundary
and out of the tube (transmission) and a
portion of the energy carried by the sound
wave will reflect off the boundary, remain
in the tube and travel in the opposite
direction (reflection). If the end of the tube
is "open" or uncovered such that the air at

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Page 4

the end of the tube can freely vibrate when


the sound wave reaches it, then the
behavior at the boundary resembles free
end reflection. There is no inversion of the
disturbance when reflecting off the open
end (uncovered end) of a cylindrical tube.
That is, if a compression is incident towards
an open-end, it will reflect and return as a
compression. Similarly, if a rarefaction is
incident towards an open end, it will reflect
and return as a rarefaction. The opposite
occurs if the end of the tube is "closed" or
covered up. If the end of the tube is
"closed" or covered, then the air at the end
of the tube is fixed and cannot freely
vibrate when the sound wave reaches it. In
this case, the behavior at the boundary
resembles fixed end reflection. There is
inversion of the disturbance when reflecting
off the closed end (covered end) of a
cylindrical tube. That is, if a compression is
incident towards an closed end, it will
reflect and return as a rarefaction.
Similarly, if a rarefaction is incident towards
an closed end, it will reflect and return as a
compression.

The behavior of sound waves at open ends


and closed ends will become important
Lesson 5 during the discussion of musical
instruments. Many musical instruments
operate as the result of sound waves
traveling back and forth inside of "tubes" or
air columns. These waves reflect at either a
closed end or an open end of the air
column; and the fact that inversion occurs
at a closed end will have a huge impact on
the numerical pattern of frequencies
produced by such instruments.

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Page 5

The reflection of sound also becomes


important to the design of concert halls and
auditoriums. The acoustics of sound must
be considered in the design of such
buildings. The most important
considerations include destructive
interference and reverberations, both of
which are the result of reflections of sound
off the walls and ceilings. Designers
attempt to reduce the severity of these
problems by using building materials which
reduce the amount of reflection and
enhance the amount of transmission (or
absorption) into the walls and ceilings. The
most reflective materials are those which
are smooth and hard; such materials are
very dissimilar to air and thus reduce the
amount of transmission and increase the
amount of reflection. The best materials to
use in the design of concert halls and
auditoriums are those materials which are
soft. For this reason, fiberglass and acoustic
tile are used in such buildings rather than
cement and brick.

NEXT >>
home | about | credits | feedback
2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and
Engineering, Inc.
All rights reserved.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Interference
and Beats
The Doppler
Effect and
Shock
Waves
Boundary
Behavior
Reflection,
Refraction,
and
Diffraction
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 3: Behavior of Sound Waves


Reflection, Refraction, and Diffraction
Like any wave, a sound wave doesn't just
stop when it reaches the end of the
medium or when it encounters an obstacle
in its path. Rather, a sound wave will
undergo certain behaviors when it
encounters the end of the medium or an
obstacle. Possible behaviors include
reflection off the obstacle, diffraction
around the obstacle, and transmission
(accompanied by refraction) into the
obstacle or new medium . In this part of
Lesson 3, we will investigate behaviors
which have already been discussed in a
previous unit and apply them towards the
reflection, diffraction, and refraction of
sound waves.
When a wave reaches the boundary
between one medium another medium, a
portion of the wave undergoes reflection
and a portion of the wave undergoes
transmission across the boundary. As
discussed in the previous part of Lesson 3,
the reflected wave may or may not undergo
a phase change (i.e., be inverted)
depending on the relative densities of the
two media. It was also mentioned that the
amount of reflection is dependent upon the
dissimilarity of the two medium. For this
reason, acousticly minded builders of
auditoriums and concert halls avoid the use
of hard, smooth materials in the
construction of their inside halls. A hard
material such as concrete is as dissimilar as
can be to the air through which the sound
moves; subsequently, most of the sound
wave is reflected by the walls and little is
absorbed.

The Physics Classroom

Page 2

Reflection of sound waves off of surfaces


can lead to one of two phenomenon - an
echo or a reverberation. A reverberation
often occurs in a small room with height,
width, and length dimensions of
approximately 17 meters or less. Why the
magical 17 meters? The effect of a
particular sound wave upon the brain
endures for more than a tiny fraction of a
second; the human brain keeps a sound in
memory for up to 0.1 seconds. If a reflected
sound wave reaches the ear within 0.1
seconds of the initial sound, then it seems
to the person that the sound is prolonged.
The reception of multiple reflections off of
walls and ceilings within 0.1 seconds of
each other causes reverberations - the
prolonging of a sound. Since sound waves
travel at about 340 m/s at room
temperature, it will take approximately 0.1
s for a sound to travel the length of a 17
meter room and back, thus causing a
reverberation (recall from Lesson 2, t = v/d
= (340 m/s)/(34 m) = 0.1 s). This is why
reverberations is common in rooms with
dimensions of approximately 17 meters or
less. Perhaps you have observed
reverberations when talking in an empty
room, when honking the horn while driving
through a highway tunnel or underpass, or
when singing in the shower. In auditoriums
and concert halls, reverberations
occasionally occur and lead to the
displeasing garbling of a sound.
But reflection of sound waves in
auditoriums and concert halls do not always
lead to displeasing results, especially if the
reflections are designed right. Smooth walls
have a tendency to direct sound waves in a
specific direction. Subsequently the use of
smooth walls in an auditorium will cause
spectators to receive a large amount of
sound from one location along the wall;
there would be only one possible path by
which sound waves could travel from the
speakers to the listener. The auditorium

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Page 3

would not seem to be as lively and full of


sound. Rough walls tend to diffuse sound,
reflecting it in a variety of directions. This
allows a spectator to perceive sounds from
every part of the room, making it seem
lively and full. For this reason, auditorium
and concert hall designers prefer
construction materials which are rough
rather than smooth.

Reflection of sound waves also lead to


echoes. Echoes are different than
reverberations. Echoes occur when a
reflected sound wave reaches the ear more
than 0.1 seconds after the original sound
wave was heard. If the elapsed time
between the arrival of the two sound waves
is more than 0.1 seconds, then the
sensation of the first sound will have died
out . In this case, the arrival of the second
sound wave will be perceived as a second
sound rather than the prolonging of the first
sound. There will be an echo instead of a
reverberation.
Reflection of sound waves off of surfaces is
also effected by the shape of the surface.
As mentioned of water waves in Unit 10,
flat or plane surfaces reflect sound waves in
such a way that the angle at which the
wave approaches the surface equals the
angle at which the wave leaves the surface.
This principle will be extended to the
reflective behavior of light waves off of
plane surfaces in great detail in Unit 13 of
The Physics Classroom. Reflection of sound
waves off of curved surfaces leads to a
more interesting phenomenon. Curved
surfaces with a parabolic shape have the
habit of focusing sound waves to a point.

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Page 4

Sound waves reflecting off of parabolic


surfaces concentrate all their energy to a
single point in space; at that point, the
sound is amplified. Perhaps you have seen
a museum exhibit which utilizes a
parabolic-shaped disk to collect a large
amount of sound and focus it at a focal
point. If you place your ear at the focal
point, you can hear even the faintest
whisper of a friend standing across the
room. Parabolic-shaped satellite disks use
this same principle of reflection to gather
large amounts of electromagnetic waves
and focus it at a point (where the receptor
is located). Scientists have recently
discovered some evidence which seem to
reveal that the bull moose utilizes his
antlers as a satellite disk to gather and
focus sound. Finally, scientists have long
believed that owls are equipped with
spherically-shaped facial disks which can be
maneuvered in order to gather and reflect
sound towards their ears. This principle will
be extended to the reflective behavior of
light waves off curved surfaces in great
detail in Unit 13 of The Physics Classroom.
Diffraction involves a change in direction
of waves as they pass through an opening
or around a barrier in their path. The
diffraction of water waves was discussed in
Unit 10 of The Physics Classroom. In that
unit, we saw that water waves have the
ability to travel around corners, around
obstacles and through openings. The
amount of diffraction (the sharpness of the
bending) increases with increasing
wavelength and decreases with decreasing
wavelength. In fact, when the wavelength
of the waves are smaller than the obstacle
or opening, no noticeable diffraction occurs.
Diffraction of sound waves is
commonly observed; we notice
sound diffracting around corners
or through door openings,
allowing us to hear others who
are speaking to us from

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Page 5

adjacent rooms. Many forest-dwelling birds


take advantage of the diffractive ability of
long-wavelength sound waves. Owls for
instance are able to communicate across
long distances due to the fact that their
long-wavelength hoots are able to diffract
around forest trees and carry farther than
the short-wavelength tweets of song birds.
Low-pitched (high wavelength) sounds
always carry further than high pitched (low
wavelength) sounds.
Scientists have recently learned that
elephants emit infrasonic waves of very low
frequency to communicate over long
distances to each other. Elephants typically
migrate in large herds which may
sometimes become separated from each
other by distances of several miles.
Researchers who have observed elephant
migrations from the air have been
impressed and puzzled by the ability of
elephants at the beginning and the end of
these herds to make extremely
synchronized movements. The matriarch at
the front of the heard might make a turn to
the right which is immediately followed by
elephants at the end of the herd making the
same turn to the right. These synchronized
movements occur despite the fact that the
elephants' vision of each other is blocked by
dense vegetation. Only recently have they
learned that the synchronized movements
are preceded by infrasonic communication.
While low wavelength light waves are
unable to diffract around the dense
vegetation, the high wavelength sounds
produced by the elephants have sufficient
diffractive ability to communicate long
distances.
Bats use high frequency (low wavelength)
ultrasonic waves in order to enhance their
ability to hunt. The typical prey of a bat is
the moth - an object not much larger than a
couple of centimeters. Bats use ultrasonic
echolocation methods to detect the
presence of bats in the air. But why

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Page 6

ultrasound? The answer lies in the physics


of diffraction. As the wavelength of a wave
becomes smaller than the obstacle which it
encounters, the wave is no longer able to
diffract around the obstacle, instead the
wave reflects off the obstacle. Bats use
ultrasonic waves with wavelengths smaller
than the dimensions of their prey. These
sound waves will encounter the prey, and
instead of diffracting around the prey, will
reflect off the prey and allow the bat to
hunt by means of echolocation. The
wavelength of a 50 000 Hz sound wave in
air (speed of approximately 340 m/s) can
be calculated as follows
wavelength = speed/frequency
wavelength = (340 m/s)/(50 000 Hz)
wavelength = 0.0068 m
The wavelength of the 50 000 Hz sound
wave (typical for a bat) is approximately
0.7 centimeters, smaller than the
dimensions of a typical moth.

Refraction of waves involves a change in


the direction of waves as they pass from
one medium to another. Refraction, or
bending of the path of the waves, is
accompanied by a change in speed and
wavelength of the waves. So if the medium
(and its properties) are changed, the speed
of the waves are changed. Thus waves
passing from one medium to another will
undergo refraction. Refraction of sound
waves is most evident in situations in which
the sound wave passes through a medium
with gradually varying properties. For
example, sound waves are known to refract
when traveling over water. Even though the
sound wave is not exactly changing media,
it is traveling through a medium with
varying properties; thus,
the wave will encounter
refraction and change its

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Page 7

direction. Since water has a moderating


effect upon the temperature of air, the air
directly above the water tends to be cooler
than the air far above the water. Sound
waves travel slower in cooler air than they
do in warmer air. For this reason, the
portion of the wavefront directly above the
water is slowed down, while the portion of
the wavefronts far above the water speeds
ahead. Subsequently, the direction of the
wave changes, refracting downwards
towards the water. This is depicted in the
diagram at the right.
Refraction of other waves such as light
waves will be discussed in more detail in a
later Unit 14 of The Physics Classroom.

Go to Lesson 4
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2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and
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All rights reserved.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Natural
Frequency
Forced
Vibration
Standing
Wave
Patterns
Fundamental
Frequency
and
Harmonics
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 4: Resonance and Standing


Waves
Natural Frequency
As has been previously mentioned in this
unit, a sound wave is created as a result of
a vibrating object. The vibrating object is
the source of the disturbance which moves
through the medium. The vibrating object
which creates the disturbance could be the
vocal chords of a person, the vibrating
string and sound board of a guitar or violin,
the vibrating tines of a tuning fork, or the
vibrating diaphragm of a radio speaker. Any
object which vibrates will create a sound.
The sound could be musical or it could be
noisy; but regardless of its quality, the
sound was created by a vibrating object.
Nearly all objects, when hit or struck or
plucked or strummed or somehow
disturbed, will vibrate. If you drop a meter
stick or pencil on the floor, it will begin to
vibrate. If you pluck a guitar string, it will
begin to vibrate. If you blow over the top of
a pop bottle, the air inside will vibrate.
When each of these objects vibrate, they
tend to vibrate at a particular frequency or
a set of frequencies. The frequency or
frequencies at which an object tends to
vibrate with when hit, struck, plucked,
strummed or somehow disturbed is known
as the natural frequency of the object. If
the amplitude of the vibrations are large
enough and if natural frequency is within
the human frequency range, then the
object will produce sound waves which are
audible.
All objects have a natural frequency or set
of frequencies at which they vibrate. The
quality or timbre of the sound produced by

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Page 2

a vibrating object is dependent upon the


natural frequencies of the sound waves
produced by the objects. Some objects tend
to vibrate at a single frequency and they
are often said to produce a pure tone. A
flute tends to vibrate at a single frequency,
producing a very pure tone. Other objects
vibrate and produce more complex waves
with a set of frequencies which have a
whole number mathematical relationship
between them; these are said to produce a
rich sound. A tuba tends to vibrate at a set
of frequencies which are mathematically
related by whole number ratios; it produces
a rich tone. Still other objects will vibrate at
a set of multiple frequencies which have no
simple mathematical relationship between
them. These objects are not musical at all
and the sounds which they create are best
described as noise. When a meter stick or
pencil is dropped on the floor, a vibrates
with a number of frequencies, producing a
complex sound wave which is clanky and
noisy.

The actual frequency at which an object will


vibrate at is determined by a variety of
factors. Each of these factors will either
effect the wavelength or the speed of the
object. Since
frequency = speed/wavelength
an alteration in either speed or wavelength
will result in an alteration of the natural
frequency. The role of a musician is to
control these variables in order to produce
a given frequency from the instrument

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Page 3

which is being played. Consider a guitar as


an example. There are six strings, each
having a different linear density (the wider
strings are more dense on a per meter
basis), a different tension (which is
controllable by the guitarist, and a different
length (also controllable by the guitarist).
The speed at which waves move through
the strings is dependent upon the
properties of the medium - in this case the
tightness (tension) of the string and the
linear density of the strings. Changes in
these properties would effect the natural
frequency of a particular string. The
vibrating portion of a particular string can
be shortened by pressing the string against
one of the frets on the neck of the guitar;
this modification in the length of the string
would effect the wavelength of the wave
and in turn the natural frequency at which a
particular string vibrates at. Controlling the
speed and the wavelength in this manner
allows a guitarist to control the natural
frequencies of the vibrating object (a
string) and thus produce the intended
musical sounds. The same principles can be
applied to any string instrument - whether
it be the piano, harp, harpsichord, violin or
guitar.
As another example, consider the trombone
with its long cylindrical tube which is bent
upon itself twice and ends in a flared end.
The trombone is an example of a wind
instrument. The "tube" of any wind
instrument acts as a container for a
vibrating air column; the air inside the tube
will be set into vibrations by a vibrating
reed or the vibrations of a musicians lips
against a mouthpiece. While the speed of
sound waves within the air column is not
alterable by the musician (they can only be
altered by changes in room temperature),
the length of the air column is. For a
trombone, the length is altered by pushing
the tube outward away from the
mouthpiece to lengthen it or pulling it in to
shorten it. This causes the length of the air

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Page 4

column to be changed, and subsequently


changes the wavelength of the waves it
produces. And of course, a change in
wavelength will result in a change in the
frequency. So the natural frequency of a
wind instrument such as the trombone is
dependent upon the length of the air
column of the instrument. The same
principles can be applied to any wind
instrument -whether it be the tuba, flute,
wind chime, organ pipe, clarinet, or pop
bottle.

There were a variety of


classroom demonstrations
(some of which were phun
and some of which were
corny) which illustrated the
idea of natural frequencies and their
modification. First recall the pop bottle
instrument. A pop bottle was partly filled
with water leaving a column of air inside
which was capable of vibrating. When air
was blown over the top of the instrument,
the air inside was set into vibrational
motion (turbulence above the lip of the
bottle creates disturbances within the
bottle). These vibrations resulted in a
sound wave which was audible to students.
Of course, the frequency can be modified
by altering the length of the air column
(adding or removing water) which changes
the wavelength and in turn the frequency.
As we know from our understanding of the
frequency-wavelength relation, a shorter air
column means a shorter wavelength and a
higher frequency.
Then there was the toilet paper roll medley.
Different lengths of toilet paper rolls (or
wrapping paper rolls) will vibrate with
different frequencies when struck against a

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Page 5

students head. A properly selected set of


rolls will result in the production of sounds
which are capable of a Tony Award
rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
Maybe you are familiar with the popular
water goblet prom trick which was
demonstrated in class. Obtain a
water goblet and clean your
fingers. Then gently slide your
finger over the rim of the water
goblet. If you are fortunate
enough, you might be able to
set the goblet into vibration by means of
slip-stick friction. (It is not necessary to
use a crystal goblet; it is often said that
crystal goblets work better, but I have been
able to perform the trick just as easily with
clean fingers and an inexpensive goblet.)
Like a violin bow string being pulled across
a violin string, the finger sticks to the glass
molecules, pulling them apart at a given
point until the tension becomes so great.
The finger then slips off the glass and
subsequently finds another microscopic
surface to stick to; the finger pulls the
molecules at that surface, slips and then
sticks at another location. This process of
stick-slip friction is sufficient to set the
molecules in the glass into vibration at its
natural frequency. The result is enough to
impress your dinner guests. Try it at
home!!
Perhaps you recall a simple pendulum
demonstration. While a pendulum does not
produce a noise when it oscillates, it does
illustrate an important principle. The
pendulums consisting of the longer strings
vibrate with a longer period and thus a
lower frequency. Once more, there is an
inverse relationship between the length of
the vibrating object and the natural
frequency at which the object vibrates. This
very relationship carries over to any
vibrating instrument - whether it be a
guitar string, a xylophone, a pop bottle
instrument, or a kettle drum.

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To conclude, all objects have a natural


frequency or set of frequencies at which
they vibrate when struck, plucked,
strummed or somehow disturbed. The
actual frequency is dependent upon the
properties of the material the object is
made of (this effects the speed of the
wave) and the length of the material (this
effects the wavelength of the wave). It is
the goal of musicians to find instruments
which possess the ability to vibrate with
sets of frequencies which are musically
sounding (i.e., mathematically related by
simple whole number ratios) and to vary
the lengths and (if possible) properties to
create the desired sounds.

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2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and
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All rights reserved.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Natural
Frequency
Forced
Vibration
Standing
Wave
Patterns
Fundamental
Frequency
and
Harmonics
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 4: Resonance and Standing


Waves
Forced Vibration
Musical instruments and other objects are
set into vibration at their natural frequency
when a person hits, strikes, strums, plucks
or somehow disturbs the object. For
instance, a guitar string is strummed or
plucked; a piano string is hit with a
hammer when a pedal is played; and the
tines of a tuning fork are hit with a rubber
mallet. Whatever the case, a person or
thing puts energy into the instrument by
direct contact with it. This input of energy
disturbs the particles and forces the object
into vibrational motion - at its natural
frequency.
If you were to take a guitar string and
stretch it to a given length and a given
tightness and have a friend pluck it, you
would hear a noise; but the noise would not
even be close in comparison to the
loudness produced by an acoustic guitar.
On the other hand, if the string is attached
to the sound box of the guitar, the vibrating
string is capable of forcing the sound box
into vibrating at that same natural
frequency. The sound box in turn forces air
particles inside the box into vibrational
motion at the same natural frequency as
the string. The entire system (string, guitar,
and enclosed air) begins vibrating and
forces surrounding air particles into
vibrational motion. The tendency of one
object to force another adjoining or
interconnected object into vibrational
motion is referred to as a forced
vibration. In the case of the guitar string
mounted to the sound box, the fact that the
surface area of the sound box is greater

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than the surface area of the string, means


that more surrounding air particles will be
forced into vibration. This causes an
increase in the amplitude and thus loudness
of the sound.
This same principle of a
forced vibration was
demonstrated in class using
a tuning fork. If the tuning
fork is held in your hand
and hit with a hammer, a
sound is produced as the
tines of the tuning fork set
surrounding air particles
into vibrational motion. The sound produced
by the tuning fork is barely audible to
students in the back rows of the room.
However, if the tuning fork is set upon the
whiteboard panel or the glass panel of the
overhead projector, the panels begin
vibrating at the same natural frequency of
the tuning fork. The tuning fork forces
surrounding glass (or vinyl) particles into
vibrational motion. The vibrating
whiteboard or overhead projector panel in
turn forces surrounding air particles into
vibrational motion and the result is an
increase in the amplitude and thus loudness
of the sound. This principle of forced
vibration explains why the classroom tuning
fork is mounted on a sound box, why a
commercial music box mechanism is
mounted on a sounding board, why a guitar
utilizes a sound box, and why a piano string
is attached to a sounding board - a louder
sound is always produced.
Now consider a related situation which
resembles another classroom
demonstration. Suppose that a tuning fork
is mounted on a sound box and set upon
the table; and suppose a second tuning
fork/sound box system having the same
natural frequency (say 256 Hz) is placed on
the table near the first system. Neither of
the tuning forks is vibrating. Then the first
tuning fork is struck with a rubber mallet

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and the tines begin vibrating at its natural


frequency - 256 Hz. These vibrations set
the sound box and the air inside the sound
box vibrating at the
same natural
frequency of 256 Hz.
Surrounding air
particles are set into
vibrational motion at
the same natural
frequency of 256 Hz and every student in
the classroom hears the sound. Then the
tines of the tuning fork are grabbed to
prevent their vibration and remarkably the
sound of 256 Hz is still being heard. Only
now the sound is being produced by the
second tuning fork - the one which wasn't
hit with the mallet. Amazing!! In fact, it is
so amazing, that the demonstration is
repeated to assure that the same surprising
results are observed. They are! What is
happening?
In this demonstration, one tuning fork
forces another tuning fork into vibrational
motion at the same natural frequency. The
two forks are connected by the surrounding
air particles. As the air particles
surrounding the first fork (and its
connected sound box) begin vibrating, the
pressure waves which it creates begin to
impinge at a periodic and regular rate of
256 Hz upon the second tuning fork (and its
connected sound box). The energy carried
by this sound wave through the air is tuned
to the frequency of the second tuning fork.
Since the incoming sound waves share the
same natural frequency as the second
tuning fork, the tuning fork easily begins
vibrating at its natural frequency. This is an
example of resonance - when one object
vibrating at the same natural frequency of a
second object forces that second object into
vibrational motion.
The result of resonance is always a large
vibration. Regardless of the vibrating
system, if resonance occurs, a large

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Page 4

vibration results. This was demonstrated in


class with an odd-looking mechanical
system resembling an inverted pendulum.
Three sets of two identical plastic bobs
were mounted on a very
elastic metal pole, which
were in turn mounted to
a metal bar. Each metal
pole and attached bob
had a different length,
thus giving it a different
natural frequency of vibration. The bobs
were color coded to distinguish between
them - they were colored red, blue and
green (this will be significant later in the
course). The red bobs were mounted on the
longer poles and they had the lowest
natural frequency of vibration. The blue
bobs were mounted on the shorter poles
and they had the highest natural frequency
of vibration. (Note the length-wavelengthfrequency relationship that was discussed
earlier.) When the red bob was disturbed, it
began vibrating at its natural frequency,
which in turn caused the attached bar to
vibrate at the same frequency; this in turn
set the other attached red bob into
vibrating at the same natural frequency.
This is resonance - one bob vibrating at a
given frequency forcing a second object
with the same natural frequency into
vibrational motion. While the green and the
blue bobs were disturbed by the vibrations
transmitted through the metal bar, only the
red bob would resonate. This is because the
frequency of the first red bob was tuned to
the frequency of the second red bob; they
share the same natural frequency. The
result was that the second red bob begins
vibrating with a huge amplitude.
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Page 5

Another classroom
demonstration of resonance
involved a plastic tube which
was raised an lowered in a
cylinder of water until the
vibrations of the air inside of
the tube was tuned to the
vibrations of a tuning fork. By
raising and lowering the
plastic tube, the natural
frequency at which air inside
of the tube could vibrate was
modified. If the tube is raised, thus
increasing the length of the air column
inside of the tube, the natural frequency of
the air column is decreased. Conversely, if
the tube is lowered into the water, thus
decreasing the length of the air column
inside of the tube, the natural frequency of
the air column is increased. (Again note the
length-wavelength-frequency relationship
that was discussed earlier.) While the
raising and lowering of the tube into and
out of the cylinder is being carried on, a
vibrating tuning fork is held above the air
column. When the natural frequency of the
air column is tuned to the frequency of the
vibrating tuning fork, resonance occurs and
a loud sound results. The vibrating tuning
fork forces air particles within the air
column into vibrational motion. Once more
in this resonance situation, the tuning fork
and the air column share the same
vibrational frequency.

In conclusion, resonance occurs when two


interconnected objects share the same
vibrational frequency. When one of the
objects is vibrating, it forces the second
object into vibrational motion. The result is
a large vibration, and if a sound wave
within the audible range of human hearing
is produced, a loud sound is heard.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Natural
Frequency
Forced
Vibration
Standing
Wave
Patterns
Fundamental
Frequency
and
Harmonics
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 4: Resonance and Standing


Waves
Standing Wave Patterns
As mentioned earlier, all objects have a
frequency or set of frequencies with which
they naturally vibrate when struck, plucked,
strummed or somehow disturbed. Each of
the natural frequencies at which an object
vibrates is associated with a standing wave
pattern. When an object is forced into
resonance vibrations at one of its natural
frequencies, it vibrates in a manner such
that a standing wave is formed within the
object. The topic of standing wave patterns
was introduced in Unit 10 of The Physics
Classroom. In that unit, a standing wave
pattern was described as a vibrational
pattern created within a medium when the
vibrational frequency of a source causes
reflected waves from one end of the
medium to interfere with incident waves
from the source in such a manner that
specific points along the medium appear to
be standing still. Such patterns are only
created within the medium at specific
frequencies of vibration; these frequencies
are known as harmonic frequencies, or
merely harmonics. At any frequency other
than a harmonic frequency, the
interference of reflected and incident waves
results in a resulting disturbance of the
medium which is irregular and nonrepeating.
So the natural frequencies of an object are
merely the harmonic frequencies at which
standing wave patterns are established
within the object. These standing wave
patterns represent the lowest energy
vibrational modes of the object. While
there are countless way by which an object

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Page 2

can vibrate (each associated with a specific


frequency), objects favor only a few specific
modes or patterns of vibrating. The favored
modes (patterns) of vibration are those
which result in the highest amplitude
vibrations with the least input of energy.
Objects favor these natural modes of
vibration because they are representative
of the patterns which require the least
amount of energy. Objects are most easily
forced into resonance vibrations when
disturbed at frequencies associated with
these natural frequencies.
The wave pattern associated with the
natural frequencies of an object is
characterized by points which appear to be
standing still; for this reason, the pattern is
often called a "standing wave pattern." The
points in the pattern which are standing
still are referred to as nodal points or nodal
positions. These positions occur as the
result of the destructive interference of
incident and reflected waves. Each nodal
point is surrounded by anti-nodal points,
creating an alternating pattern of nodal and
anti-nodal points. Such patterns were
introduced in Unit 10 of The Physics
Classroom. In this unit, we will elaborate on
the essential characteristics and the causes
of standing wave patterns and relate these
patterns to the vibrations of musical
instruments.
Perhaps you recall the classroom
demonstration utilizing the square metal
plate (known as a Chladni plate), a violin
bow and the salt. The plate was securely
fastened to a table using a nut and bolt; the
nut and bolt were clamped to the
center of the square plate,
preventing that section from
vibrating. The salt was sprinkled
upon the plate in an irregular
pattern. Then the violin bow was
used to induce vibrations within the
plate; the plate was strummed and
began vibrating. And then the magic

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Page 3

occurred. A high-pitched pure tone was


sounded out as the plate vibrated; and,
remarkably (as is often the case in physics
class), the salt upon the plate began
vibrating and formed a pattern upon the
plate. As we know, all objects (even a silly
little metal plate) have a set of natural
frequencies at which they vibrate; and each
frequency is associated with a standing
wave pattern. The pattern formed by the
salt on the plate was the standing wave
pattern associated with one of the natural
frequencies of the Chladni plate. As the
plate began to vibrate, the salt began to
vibrate and tumble about the plate until
they reached points along the plate which
were not vibrating. Subsequently, the salt
finally comes to rest along the nodal
positions. The diagrams at the right show
two of the most common standing wave
patterns for the Chladni plates. The white
lines represent the salt locations (nodal
positions). Observe in the diagram that
each pattern is characterized by nodal
positions in the corners of the square plate
and in the center of the plate. For these
two particular vibrational modes, those
positions are unable to move. Being unable
to move, they become nodal points - points
of no displacement.

The diagram below depicts one of the


natural patterns of vibrations for a guitar
string. In the pattern, you will note that
there are certain positions along the string
(the medium) in which points appear to be
standing still. These points are referred to
as nodal points and are labeled on the
diagram. In between each nodal position,
are other positions which appear to be
vibrating back and forth between a large
upward displacement to a large downward
displacement. These points are referred to
as anti-nodes and are also labeled on the

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Page 4

diagram. There is an alternating pattern of


nodal and anti-nodal positions in a standing
wave pattern.

Because the anti-nodal positions along the


guitar string are vibrating back and forth
between a a large upward displacement to
a large downward displacement, the
standing wave pattern is often depicted by
a diagram such as that shown below.

The pattern above is not the only pattern of


vibration for a guitar string. There are a
variety of patterns by which
the guitar string could
naturally vibrate; each pattern
is associated with one of the
natural frequencies of the
guitar strings. Three other
patterns are shown in the
diagrams at the right. Each
standing wave pattern is referred to as a
harmonic of the instrument (in this case,
the guitar string). The three diagrams at
the right represent the standing wave
patterns for the first, second, and third
harmonics of a guitar string. (Harmonics
will be discussed in more detail in the next
section of this lesson.) There are a variety
of other low energy vibrational patterns
which could be established in the string; for
guitar strings, each pattern is characterized
by some basic traits:
There is an alternating patterns of
nodes and antinodes.
There are either a half-number or a
whole-number of waves within the

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Page 5

pattern established on the string.


Nodal positions (points of no
displacement) are established at the
ends of the string where the string is
clamped down in a fixed position.
One pattern is related to the next
pattern by the addition (or subtraction)
of one or more nodes (and anti-nodes).

The standing wave patterns for other


musical instruments share some these
same traits or at least similar traits. These
patterns will be discussed in more detail in
Lesson 5 of this unit.

1st
Harmonic

2nd
Harmonic

3rd
Harmonic

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2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and
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All rights reserved.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Natural
Frequency
Forced
Vibration
Standing
Wave
Patterns
Fundamental
Frequency
and
Harmonics
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 4: Resonance and Standing


Waves
Fundamental Frequency and Harmonics
Previously in Lesson 4, it was mentioned
that when an object is forced into
resonance vibrations at one of its natural
frequencies, it vibrates in a manner such
that a standing wave pattern is formed
within the object. Whether it be a guitar
sting, a Chladni plate, or the air column
enclosed within a trombone, the vibrating
medium vibrates in such a way that a
standing wave pattern results. Each natural
frequency which an object or instrument
produces has its own characteristic
vibrational mode or standing wave pattern.
These patterns are only created within the
object or instrument at specific frequencies
of vibration; these frequencies are known
as harmonic frequencies, or merely
harmonics. At any frequency other than a
harmonic frequency, the resulting
disturbance of the medium is irregular and
non-repeating. For musical instruments and
other objects which vibrate in regular and
periodic fashion, the harmonic frequencies
are related to each other by simple whole
number ratios. This is part of the reason
why such instruments sound musical rather
than noisy. We will see in this part of
Lesson 4 why these whole number ratios
exist for a musical instrument.
First, consider a guitar string vibrating at its
natural frequency or harmonic frequency.
Because the ends of the string are attached
and fixed in place to the guitar's structure
(the bridge at one end and the frets at the
other), the ends of the string are unable to
move. Subsequently, these ends become
nodes - points of no displacement. In

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Page 2

between these two nodes at the end of the


string, there must be at least one antinode. The most fundamental harmonic for a
guitar string is the harmonic associated
with a standing wave having only one antinode positioned between the two nodes on
the end of the string. This
would be the harmonic with
the longest wavelength and
the lowest frequency. The
lowest frequency produced
by any particular instrument is known as
the fundamental frequency. The
fundamental frequency is alternatively
called the first harmonic of the
instrument. The diagram at the right shows
the first harmonic of a guitar string. If you
analyze the wave pattern in the guitar
string for this harmonic, you will notice that
there is not quite one complete wave within
the pattern. A complete wave starts at the
rest position, rises to a crest, returns to
rest, drops to a trough, and finally returns
to the rest position before starting its next
cycle. (Caution: the use of the words crest
and trough to describe the pattern are only
used to help identify the length of a
repeating wave cycle. A standing wave
pattern is not actually a wave, but rather a
pattern of a wave Thus, it does not consists
of crests and troughs, but rather nodes and
anti-nodes. The pattern is the result of the
interference of two waves to produce these
nodes and anti-nodes.) In this pattern,
there is only one-half of a wave within the
length of the string. This is the case for the
first harmonic or fundamental frequency of
a guitar string. The diagram below depicts
this length-wavelength relationship for the
fundamental frequency of a guitar string.

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The second harmonic of a


guitar string is produced by
adding one more node
between the ends of the
guitar string. And of course, if a node is
added to the pattern, an anti-node must be
added as well in order to maintain an
alternating pattern of nodes and anti-nodes.
In order to create a regular and repeating
pattern, that node must be located exactly
midway between the ends of the guitar
string. This additional node gives the
second harmonic a total of three nodes and
two anti-nodes. The standing wave pattern
for the second harmonic is shown at the
right. A careful investigation of the pattern
reveals that there is exactly one full wave
within the length of the guitar string. For
this reason, the length of the string is equal
to the length of the wave.
The third harmonic of a guitar
string is produced by adding
two nodes between the ends
of the guitar string. And of
course, if two nodes are added to the
pattern, two anti-nodes must be added as
well in order to maintain an alternating
pattern of nodes and anti-nodes. In order to
create a regular and repeating pattern for
this harmonic, the two additional nodes
must be evenly spaced between the ends of
the guitar string; this places them at the
one-third mark and the two-thirds mark
along the string. These additional nodes
give the third harmonic a total of four
nodes and three anti-nodes. The standing
wave pattern for the third harmonic is
shown at the right. A careful investigation
of the pattern reveals that there is more
than one full wave within the length of the
guitar string. In fact, there are three-halves
of a wave within the length of the guitar
string. For this reason, the length of the
string is equal to three-halves the length of
the wave. The diagram below depicts this

2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and

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Page 4

length-wavelength relationship for the


fundamental frequency of a guitar string.

After a discussion of the first three


harmonics, a pattern can be recognized.
Each harmonic results in an additional node
and antinode, and an additional half of a
wave within the string. If the number of
waves in a string is known, then an
equation relating the wavelength of the
standing wave pattern to the length of the
string can be algebraically derived.

This information is summarized in the table


below.
# of
# of
LengthHarm. Waves # of
Anti- Wavelength
#
in
Nodes
nodes Relationship
String
1

1/2

Wavelength =
(2/1)*L

1 or 2/
2

Wavelength =
(2/2)*L

3/2

Wavelength =
(2/3)*L

2 or 4/
2

Wavelength =
(2/4)*L

5/2

Wavelength =
(2/5)*L

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Page 5

The above discussion develops the


mathematical relationship between the
length of a guitar string and the wavelength
of the standing wave patterns for the
various harmonics which could be
established within the string. Now these
length-wavelength relationships will be
used to develop relationships for the ratio
of the wavelengths and the ratio of the
frequencies for the various harmonics
played by an string instrument (such as a
guitar string).
Consider a 80-cm long guitar string which
has a fundamental frequency (1st
harmonic) of 400 Hz. For the first harmonic,
the wavelength of the wave pattern would
be two times the length of the string (see
table above); thus, the wavelength is 160
cm or 1.60 m. The speed of the standing
wave can now be determined from the
wavelength and the frequency. The speed
of the standing wave is
speed = frequency * wavelength
speed = 400 Hz * 1.6 m
speed = 640 m/s
This speed of 640 m/s corresponds to the
speed of any wave within the guitar string.
Since the speed of any wave is dependent
upon the properties of the medium (and not
upon the properties of the wave), every
wave will have the same speed in this
string regardless of its frequency and its
wavelength. So the standing wave pattern
associated with the second harmonic, third
harmonic, fourth harmonic, etc. will also
have this speed of 640 m/s. A change in
frequency or wavelength will NOT cause a
change in speed.
Using the table above, the wavelength of
the second harmonic (denoted by the
symbol W2) would be 0.8 m (the same as

the length of the string). The speed of the


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standing wave pattern (denoted by the


symbol v) is still 640 m/s. Now the wave
equation can be used to determine the
frequency of the second harmonic (denoted
by the symbol f2).
speed = frequency * wavelength
frequency = speed/wavelength
f2 = v / W2
f2 = (640 m/s)/(0.8 m)
f2 = 800 Hz

This same process can be repeated for the


third harmonic. Using the table above, the
wavelength of the third harmonic (denoted
by the symbol W3) would be 0.533 m (twothirds of the length of the string). The
speed of the standing wave pattern
(denoted by the symbol v) is still 640 m/s.
Now the wave equation can be used to
determine the frequency of the third
harmonic (denoted by the symbol f3).
speed = frequency * wavelength
frequency = speed/wavelength
f3 = v / W3
f3 = (640 m/s)/(0.533 m)
f3 = 1200 Hz

Now if you have been following along, you


will have recognized a pattern. The
frequency of the second harmonic is two
times the frequency of the first harmonic.
The frequency of the third harmonic is three
times the frequency of the first harmonic.
The frequency of the nth harmonic (where
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Page 7

n represents the harmonic # of any of the


harmonics) is n times the frequency of the
first harmonic. In equation form, this can be
written as
fn = n * f1
The inverse of this pattern exists for the
wavelength values of the various
harmonics. The wavelength of the second
harmonic is one-half (1/2) the wavelength
of the first harmonic. The wavelength of the
third harmonic is on-third (1/3) the
wavelength of the first harmonic. And the
wavelength of the nth harmonic is one-nth
(1/n) the wavelength of the first harmonic.
In equation form, this can be written as
Wn = (1/n) * W1

These relationships between wavelengths


and frequencies of the various harmonics
for a guitar string are summarized in the
table below.
fn W n
Harm. Freq. Wavelength Speed
/
/
#
(Hz)
(m)
(m/s)
f1 W 1
1

400

1.60

640

1/1

800

0.800

640

1/2

1200

0.533

640

1/3

1600

0.400

640

1/4

2000

0.320

640

1/5

n*
400

(2/
n)*(0.800)

640

1/n

The table above demonstrates that the


individual frequencies in the set of natural
frequencies produced by a guitar string are
related to each other by whole number
ratios. For instance, the first and second
harmonics have a 2:1 frequency ratio; the

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second and the third harmonics have a 3:2


frequency ratio; the third and the fourth
harmonics have a 4:3 frequency ratio; and
the fifth and the fourth harmonic have a 5:4
frequency ratio. When the guitar is played,
the string, sound box and surrounding air
vibrate at a set of frequencies to produce a
wave with a mixture of harmonics. The
exact composition of that mixture
determines the timbre or quality of sound
which is heard. If there is only a single
harmonic sounding out in the mixture (in
which case, it wouldn't be a mixture), then
the sound is rather pure-sounding. On the
other hand, if there are a variety of
frequencies sounding out in the mixture,
then the timbre of the sound is rather rich
in quality.
In Lesson 5, these same principles of
resonance and standing waves will be
applied to other types of instruments
besides guitar strings.

Check Your Understanding


1. The sound produced by
blowing over the top of a
partially filled soda pop
bottle is the result of the
air column inside of the bottle vibrating at
its natural frequency. The actual frequency
of vibration is inversely proportional to the
wavelength of the sound; and thus, the
frequency of vibration is inversely
proportional to the length of air inside the
bottle. Express your understanding of this
resonance phenomenon by filling in the
following table.

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 5: Musical Instruments


Resonance

The goal of Unit 11 of The Physics


Classroom is to develop an understanding
of the nature, properties, behavior, and
mathematics of sound and to apply this
Resonance understanding to the analysis of music and
Guitar
musical instruments. Thus far in this unit,
Strings
applications of sound wave principles have
Open-End
been made towards a discussion of beats,
Air
musical intervals, concert hall acoustics,
Columns
the distinctions between noise and music,
ClosedEnd Air
and sound production by musical
Columns
instruments. In Lesson 5, the focus will be
upon the application of mathematical
relationships and standing wave concepts to
musical instruments. Three general
categories of instruments will be
investigated: string instruments (which
would include guitar strings, violin strings,
and piano strings), open-end air column
instruments (which would include the brass
instruments such as the flute and trombone
and woodwinds such as the saxophone and
oboe),and closed-end air column
instruments (which would include the
clarinet). A fourth category - vibrating
mechanical systems (which includes all the
percussion instruments) - will not be
discussed. These instrument categories
may be unusual to some; they are based
upon the commonalities among their
standing wave patterns and the
mathematical relationships between the
frequencies which the instruments produce.
As was mentioned in Lesson 4, musical
instruments are set into vibrational motion
at their natural frequency when a person
hits, strikes, strums, plucks or somehow
disturbs the object. Each natural frequency

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of the object is associated with one of the


many standing wave patterns by which that
object could vibrate. The natural
frequencies of a musical instruments are
sometimes referred to as the harmonics of
the instrument. An instrument can be
forced into vibrating at one of its harmonics
(with one of its standing wave patterns) if
another interconnected object pushes it
with one of those frequencies. This is
known as resonance - when one object
vibrating at the same natural frequency of a
second object forces that second object into
vibrational motion.
The word resonance comes from Latin and
means to "resound" - to sound out together
with a loud sound. Resonance is a common
cause of sound production in musical
instruments. In class, one of our models of
resonance in a musical
instrument included the
resonance tube (a hollow
cylindrical tube) immersed in a
cylinder of water and forced
into vibration by a tuning fork.
The tuning fork was the object
which forced the air inside of
the resonance tube into
resonance. As the tines of the
tuning fork vibrated at their
own natural frequency, they
created sound waves which impinged upon
the opening of the resonance tube. These
impinging sound waves produced by the
tuning fork forced air inside of the
resonance tube to vibrate at the same
frequency. Yet, in the absence of
resonance, the sound of these vibrations is
not loud enough to discern. Resonance only
occurs when the first object is vibrating at
the natural frequency of the second object.
So if the frequency at which the tuning fork
vibrates is not identical to one of the
natural frequencies of the air column inside
the resonance tube, resonance will not
occur and the two objects will not sound
out together with a loud sound. But the

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resonance tube can be moved up and down


within the water, thus decreasing or
increasing the length of the air column. As
we have learned earlier, an increase in the
length of a vibrational system (here, the air
in the tube) increases the wavelength and
decreases the natural frequency of that
system. Conversely, a decrease in the
length decreases the wavelength and
increases the natural frequency. So by
moving the resonance tube up and down
within the water, the natural frequency of
the air in the tube could be matched to the
frequency at which the tuning fork vibrates.
When the match is achieved, the tuning
fork forces the air column inside of the
resonance tube to vibrate at its own natural
frequency and resonance is achieved. And
always, the result of resonace is a big
vibration - that is, a loud sound.
Resonance was also modeled in class by
the demonstration with the famous "singing
rod." A long hollow aluminum rod was held
by the teacher at its center. Being a trained
musician, he/she reached in the rosin bag
to prepare for the event. Then with great
enthusiasm, he/she slowly slid her hand
across the length of the aluminum rod,
causing it to sound out with a loud sound.
This once more was an example of
resonance. As the hand is slid across the
surface of the aluminum rod, slip-stick
friction between the hand and the rod
produces vibrations of the aluminum. The
vibrations of the aluminum forces the air
column inside of the rod to vibrate at its
natural frequency. The match between the
vibrations of the rod and one of the natural
frequencies of the singing rod causes
resonance. And always, the result of
resonace is a big vibration - that is, a loud
sound.
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The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 5: Musical Instruments


Guitar Strings

A guitar string has a number of frequencies


at which it will naturally vibrate. These
natural frequencies are known as the
harmonics of the guitar string. As
Resonance mentioned earlier, the natural frequency at
Guitar
which an object vibrates at depends upon
Strings
the tension of the string, the linear density
Open-End
of the string and the length of the string.
Air
Each of these natural frequencies or
Columns
harmonics is associated with a standing
ClosedEnd Air
wave pattern. The specifics of the patterns
Columns
and their formation were discussed in
Lesson 4. For now, we will merely
summarize the results of that discussion.
The graphic below depicts the standing
wave patterns for the lowest three
harmonics or frequencies of a guitar string.

The wavelength of the standing wave for


any given harmonic is related to the length
of the string (and vice versa). If the length
of a guitar string is known, the wavelength
associated with each of the harmonic
frequencies can be found. Thus, the lengthwavelength relationships and the wave
equation (speed = frequency * wavelength)
can be combined to make perform
calculations predicting the length of string
required to produce a given natural

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Page 2

frequency. And conversely, calculations can


be performed to predict the natural
frequencies produced by a known length of
string. Each of these calculations requires a
knowledge of the speed of a wave in a
string. The graphic below depicts the
relationships between the key variables in
such calculations. These relationships will
be used to assist in the solution to
problems involving standing waves in
musical instruments.

To demonstrate the use of the above


problem-solving scheme, consider the
following problem and its detailed solution.
Practice Problem
The speed of waves in a particular guitar
string is found to be 425 m/s. Determine
the fundamental frequency (1st harmonic)
of the string if its length is 76.5 cm.
The solution to the problem begins by first
identifying known information, listing the
desired quantity, and constructing a
diagram of the situation.
Given:
v = 425 m/s

Find: Diagram:
f1 = ??

L = 76.5 cm = 0.765 m
The problem statement asks us to
determine the frequency (f) value. From

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Page 3

the graphic above, the only means of


finding the frequency is to use the wave
equation (speed=frequency*wavelength)
and knowledge of the speed and
wavelength. The speed is given, but
wavelength is not known. If the wavelength
could be found then the frequency could be
easily calculated. In this problem (and any
problem), knowledge of the length and the
harmonic number allows one to determine
the wavelength of the wave. For the first
harmonic, the wavelength is twice the
length. This relationship is derived from the
diagram of the standing wave pattern (and
was explained in detail in Lesson 4). The
relationship, which works only for the first
harmonic of a guitar string, is used to
calculate the wavelength for this standing
wave.
Wavelength = 2 * Length
Wavelength = 2 * 0.765 m
Wavelength = 1.53 m
Now that wavelength is known, it can be
combined with the given value of the speed
to calculate the frequency of the first
harmonic for this given string. This
calculation is shown below.
speed = frequency * wavelength
frequency = speed/wavelength
frequency = (425 m/s)/(1.53 m)
frequency = 278 Hz

Most problems can be solved in a similar


manner. It is always essential to take the
extra time needed to set the problem up;
take the time to write down the given
information and the requested information,
and to draw a meaningful diagram.

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Page 4

Seldom in physics are two problems


identical. The tendency to treat every
problem the same way is perhaps one of
the quickest paths to failure. It is much
better to combine good problem-solving
skills (part of which involves the discipline
to set the problem up) with a solid grasp of
the relationships among variables, than to
memorize approaches to different types of
problems. To further your understanding of
these relationships, examine the following
problem and its solution.

To demonstrate the use of the above


problem-solving scheme, consider the
following problem and its detailed solution.
Practice Problem
Determine the length of guitar string
required to produce a fundamental
frequency (1st harmonic) of 256 Hz. The
speed of waves in a particular guitar
string is known to be 405 m/s.
The solution to the problem begins by first
identifying known information, listing the
desired quantity, and constructing a
diagram of the situation.
Given:

Find:

v = 405 m/s

L = ??

Diagram:

f1 = 256 Hz
The problem statement asks us to
determine the length of the guitar string.
From the graphic above, the only means of
finding the length of the string is from
knowledge of the wavelength. But the
wavelength is not known. However, the
frequency and speed are given, so one can

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Page 5

use the wave equation (speed =


frequency*wavelength) and knowledge of
the speed and frequency to determine the
wavelength. This calculation is shown
below.
speed = frequency * wavelength
wavelength = speed/frequency
wavelength = (405 m/s)/(256 Hz)
wavelength = 1.58 m
Now that the wavelength is found, the
length of the guitar string can be
calculated. For the first harmonic, the
length is one-half the wavelength . This
relationship is derived from the diagram of
the standing wave pattern (and was
explained in detail in Lesson 4); it may also
be evident to you by looking at the standing
wave diagram drawn above. This
relationship between wavelength and
length, which works only for the first
harmonic of a guitar string, is used to
calculate the wavelength for this standing
wave.
Length = (1/2) * Wavelength
Length = (1/2) * Wavelength
Length = 0.791 m

If you have successfully managed the


above two problems, take a try at the
following practice problems. As you
proceed, be sure to be mindful of the
numerical relationships involved in such
problems. And if necessary, refer to the
graphic above.

Check Your Understanding

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 5: Musical Instruments


Open-End Air Columns

Many woodwind instruments consist of an


air column enclosed inside of a hollow metal
tube. Though the metal tube may be more
than a meter in length, it is often curved
Resonance upon itself one or more times in order to
Guitar
conserve space. If the end of the tube is
Strings
uncovered such that the air at the end of
Open-End
the tube can freely vibrate when the sound
Air
wave reaches it, then the end is referred to
Columns
as an open end. If both ends of the tube
ClosedEnd Air
are uncovered or open, the musical
Columns
instrument is said to contain an open-end
air column. A variety of instruments
operate on the basis of open-end air
columns; examples include the brass
instruments such as the flute and trombone
and woodwinds such as the saxophone and
oboe. Even wind chimes and some organ
pipes serve as open-end air columns.
As has already been mentioned, a musical
instrument has a set of natural frequencies
at which it vibrates at when a disturbance is
introduced into it. These natural frequencies
are known as the harmonics of the
instrument; each harmonic is associated
with a standing wave pattern. In Lesson 4 of
Unit 10, a standing wave pattern was
defined as a vibrational pattern created
within a medium when the vibrational
frequency of the source causes reflected
waves from one end of the medium to
interfere with incident waves from the
source in such a manner that specific points
along the medium appear to be standing
still. If a sound wave is traveling through a
cylindrical tube, it will eventually come to
the end of the tube. The end of the tube
represents a boundary between the

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enclosed air in the tube and the expanse of


air outside of the tube. Upon reaching the
end of the tube, the sound wave will
undergo partial reflection and partial
transmission. Inversion of the reflected
portion of the sound wave will occur only if
the end of the tube is closed (and thus, acts
as a fixed end). So for open-end air
columns, the standing wave pattern which
results is the outcome of the interference of
an non-inverted reflected wave interfering
with an incident wave.
But how do the high-pressure
(compressions) and low-pressure
(rarefactions) regions of a sound wave
interfere to produce a standing wave
pattern? Suppose that a compression is
introduced into one end of the tube; this
compression will reflect as a compression
(i.e., no inversion). Now suppose that at the
precise moment that the reflection occurs, a
rarefaction is introduced into the original
end of the tube. Since a compression and a
rarefaction make up one-half of a wave, this
is the same as saying that there is one-half
of a wave in the tube. If this is the case, the
newly introduced rarefaction will
destructively interfere with the reflected
compression in the exact center of the tube.
The destructive interference of a high
pressure region (compression) and a low
pressure region (rarefaction) results in
normal pressure region. So if one-half of a
wave is introduced into the open-end air
column, a standing wave consisting of a
pressure node in the center of the tube will
be established in the tube. Since there must
be an alternating pattern of nodes and antinodes, then the open ends of the tube will
always have pressure antinodes. That is, the
pressure at the open ends of an open-end
air column are always oscillating between a
high pressure and a low pressure. These
principles are depicted in the animation
below.
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The pressure plot in the animation above


depicts the pressure on the ends of the air
column oscillating between a high pressure
and a low pressure. The pressure in the
exact center of the open-end air column
remains at normal pressure. For this reason,
the standing wave pattern for the
fundamental frequency (or first harmonic)
for an open-end air column is shown in the
diagram below.

One full pressure wave would start with a


compression region, lead into a normal
pressure region, then lead into a rarefaction
region, back into a normal pressure region,
and finish up when the next adjacent
compression region. From this description of
a complete pressure wave and from a
careful analysis of the two diagrams above,
it is evident that there is one-half of a
pressure wave present in the length of the
air column for the first harmonic.
The standing wave pattern for the second
harmonic of an open-end air column could
be produced if another pressure node was
added to the pattern. This would result in a
total of three pressure antinodes and two
pressure nodes. This pattern is shown in the
diagram below. Observe in the pattern that
there is one full wave in the length of the air
column. That is twice the number of waves
in the first harmonic. For this reason, the
frequency of the second harmonic is two
times the frequency of the first harmonic.

2001 The Physics Classroom and Mathsoft Education and

The Physics Classroom

Physics
Tutorial
Sound Waves
and Music
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

Page 1

Lesson 5: Musical Instruments


Closed-End Air Columns

In the previous part of Lesson 5, the


formation of a standing wave patterns in an
open-end instrument was discussed and the
mathematics of the harmonic frequencies
Resonance associated with such standing wave patterns
Guitar
was developed. This part of Lesson 5 will
Strings
use similar principles to develop the
Open-End
standing wave patterns and associated
Air
mathematics for closed-end instrument. A
Columns
closed-end instrument is an instrument in
ClosedEnd Air
which one of the ends of the metal tube
Columns
containing the air column is covered. An
example of an instrument which operates on
the basis of closed-end air columns is the
clarinet. Some instruments which operate as
open-end air columns can be transformed
into closed-end air columns by covering the
end opposite the mouthpiece with a mute.
Even some organ pipes serve as closed-end
air columns. As we will see the presence of
the closed end on such an air column will
effect the actual frequencies which the
instrument can produce.
As has already been mentioned, a musical
instrument has a set of natural frequencies
at which it vibrates at when a disturbance is
introduced into it. These natural frequencies
are known as the harmonics of the
instrument; each harmonic is associated
with a standing wave pattern. In Lesson 4 of
Unit 10, a standing wave pattern was
defined as a vibrational pattern created
within a medium when the vibrational
frequency of the source causes reflected
waves from one end of the medium to
interfere with incident waves from the
source in such a manner that specific points
along the medium appear to be standing

The Physics Classroom

Page 2

still. If a sound wave is traveling through a


cylindrical tube, it will eventually come to
the end of the tube. The end of the tube
represents a boundary between the
enclosed air in the tube and the expanse of
air outside of the tube. Upon reaching the
end of the tube, the sound wave will
undergo partial reflection and partial
transmission. Inversion of the reflected
portion of the sound wave will occur only if
the end of the tube is closed (and thus, acts
as a fixed end). So for closed-end air
columns, the standing wave pattern which
results is the outcome of the interference of
an inverted reflected wave interfering with
an incident wave.
But how do the high-pressure
(compressions) and low-pressure
(rarefactions) regions of a sound wave
interfere to produce a standing wave
pattern? Suppose that a compression is
introduced into the open end of the tube;
this compression will reflect as a rarefaction
(i.e., it will invert upon reflection off the
closed end). The rarefaction will than
subsequently return towards the open end
of the tube to interfere with other parts of
the wave which are heading the opposite
direction. Now suppose that at the precise
moment that the reflected rarefaction
reaches the open end of the tube, a
compression is introduced into the open
end. The original disturbance has now
traveled twice the length of the tube in the
time that it has taken to introduce one-half
of a wave cycle. For this reason, there is
one-fourth of a wave in any given length of
the tube. If this is the case (length = onefourth wavelength), the newly introduced
rarefaction will constructively interfere with
the reflected rarefaction at the open end of
the tube. The constructive interference of a
low pressure region (rarefaction) and a low
pressure region (rarefaction) results in very
low pressure region. The same reasoning
can be used to explain how the introduction
of a rarefaction into the open end will result

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Page 3

in constructive interference with the next


compression at that same open end.
Constructive interference will always occur
at the open end of any air column. So if
one-fourth of a wave is introduced into a
closed end air column, a standing wave
pattern consisting of a pressure anti-node at
the open end of the air column will be
established in the tube. Since there must be
an alternating pattern of nodes and antinodes, then the closed end of the tube will
always have pressure nodes. That is, the
pressure at the open end of a closed end air
column are always oscillating between a
high pressure and a low pressure while the
closed end is always maintained at a normal
pressure level. These principles are depicted
in the animation below.

The pressure plot in the animation above


depicts the pressure on the open end of the
air column oscillating between a high
pressure and a low pressure. The pressure
on the closed end of the closed-end air
column remains at normal pressure. This
will always be the case for any given
harmonic. Since the closed end acts as a
fixed end which prevents the oscillation of
air, the closed end remains at normal
pressure; the close ends are always
pressure nodes. On the other hand, the
open ends are always pressure anti-nodes;
since air is free to oscillate into and out of
the tube at the open ends, the pressure at
these ends are oscillating back-and-forth
from high pressure to low pressure. For this
reason, the standing wave pattern for the
fundamental frequency (or first harmonic)

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Page 4

for a closed-end air column is shown in the


diagram below.

One full pressure wave would start with a


compression region, lead into a normal
pressure region, then lead into a rarefaction
region, back into a normal pressure region,
and finish up when the next adjacent
compression region. From this description of
a complete pressure wave and from a
careful analysis of the two diagrams above,
it is evident that there is one-fourth of a
pressure wave present in the length of the
air column for the first harmonic.

The fundamental frequency is the lowest


possible frequency which any instrument
can play; it is sometimes referred to as the
first harmonic of the instrument. The second
harmonic of any instrument always has a
frequency which is twice the frequency of
the first harmonic. The fourth harmonic of
any instrument always has a frequency
which is four times the frequency of the first
harmonic. As we will see, strange pattern
results for a closed-end air column. Just as
for all the instruments, the next harmonic
for a closed end air column is the harmonic
which has one more node. And just as for all
the instruments, the addition of an extra
node also means that an extra anti-node
must also be added to the pattern. This
would result in a total of two pressure
antinodes and two pressure nodes. This
pattern is shown in the diagram below.
Observe in the pattern that there is threefourths of a full wave in the length of the air
column. That is three times the number of
waves in the first harmonic. Since, the
frequency of this harmonic is three times
the frequency of the first harmonic, this is
called the third harmonic.

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