Sound

Sound: Sound is a form of energy due to vibrating body produces the sensation of hearing.
Properties of sound waves:
1) It travels in the medium in the form of longitudinal waves.
2) They are mechanical waves.
3) In a homogeneous medium sound waves of all frequencies
travel with constant velocity.
4) It travels with different velocities in different media.
5) It undergo reflection, refraction.
6) When sound waves travel from one medium to another, the
velocity &
wavelength changes but frequency remains
unchanged.
7) They exhibit interference & undergo diffraction.
8) When sound waves are incident on a surface, they set the
surface into vibration.

Newtons formula for the velocity of sound in gases:

Sir Issac Newton

Elasticity or inertia is the property of the medium which controls the speed of sound. On the
basis of theoretical calculations Newton showed that the speed of sound wave in a medium is
given by
v

Where E is the modulus of elasticity, is the density of the medium. In the case of gases E can be
replaced by B, the bulk modulus of gas.
Therefore, Newtons formula for speed of sound in a gas is
v

Newton assumed that when longitudinal waves traveled through gases,

temperature of the gas remains constant. Thus for a perfect gas, under
isothermal conditions isothermal bulk modulus B is equal to the initial
pressure P of the gas.
P

This is known as Newtons formula. Substituting the values of

pressure & density at NTP
5

1.013 10
1.293

280ms

Laplace

But experiments showed that speed of sound was 332 ms 1 .

Newtons-Laplace formula: According to Laplace, when sound wave travels through gases, at any
point in the medium the states of compressions & rarefactions occur alternately. At the time of
compression some amount of heat is liberated & at the time of rarefaction some amount of heat is
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lost from the medium. These occur so quickly that the heat produced cant go out of the medium.
This means, temperature at a point in the medium rises during compression falls during
rarefaction. So the propagation takes place adiabatically. This means in Newtons formula B
should represent adiabatic bulk modulus i.e B = p where is the atomicity of the gas. NewtonsLaplace formula for speed of sound in gases becomes
P

For air =1.41 substituting this we get

1.414 1.013 105
1.293

331.6ms

Factors affecting velocity of sound in air:

1) Effect of pressure: Let P be the pressure & V be the volume of a mass m of air. If `` is the
density of air at pressure p then,
m

Wkt from Boyles law PV= constant

Pm

Since m is constant

constant

remains constant.

Thus velocity of sound in air is independent of pressure provided temperature remains

constant.
2)

Effect of temperature: Let

be the densities of air at 0 c & t c. Then from charles

&

law we have
(1

t)

If v & v are the velocities of sound at 0 c & t c then

P

v
v
v

t
273

1
v
v

& v
t

273 t
273
T
273
T

Thus the velocity of sound in air is directly proportional to the square root of its
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M.N.Sharath kumar,
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absolute temperature.
3) Effect of humidity: Water vapour has a density smaller than that of dry air. The presence
of humidity decreases the density so the velocity of sound increases. Therefore humidity is
inversely proportional to velocity of sound.
4)Effect of wind: If the wind is blowing in the direction of propagation of sound
wave, it will increase the velocity. If the wind is in opposite direction to the
propagation, it will decrease.

Intensity & Loudness of sound:

Intensity of sound is the amount of sound energy flowing per second across unit area held
normal to the direction of propagation of sound waves
I 22 f 2 A2 v

Where f is the frequency, A is the amplitude, is the density & v is the velocity of propagation of
wave.
Loudness is the degree of sensation of sound in a listener & it is a physiological
phenomenon.
It depends on
1) Intensity of sound
2) Sensitivity of the ear of the listener.

Weber-Fechner law: The loudness(L) & the intensity(I) are related to reach other given by
L = KlogI
Where K is a constant.
Intensity and loudness of sound depends on
a) Amplitude of vibration of source.
b) Area of vibrating surface.
c) Distance between the source & the listener.
d) Density of the medium.
e) Motion of the medium.
f) Presence of sound absorbing bodies in the surrounding.
The unit of intensity is watt / m2 . The ordinary audible range is 1012 Wm2 . The
intensity of the feeblest sound that a human ear can detect is called threshold of hearing or
threshold of audibility.
The intensity of loudest sound the human ear can tolerate is called threshold of pain
or threshold of hearing.
Relative intensity: Relative intensity or intensity level of any sound is the ratio of the intensity
of that sound(I) to the standard intensity( I ).
The unit used is bel or decibel
I
IL log
I
I
IL 10 log
I

in bel

in decibel.

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M.N.Sharath kumar,
9886861096

Measurement of Loudness: The unit of loudness is Sone which is defined as the

loudness experienced by a listener with normal hearing when a sound of frequency 1000Hz of
intensity level 40decibel is incident on his ears.

Difference between intensity & loudness:

Intensity
1) It is the quantity of energy that
flows through unit area in 1s.
2) It is not related to sensitivity of
the ear.
3) It can be precisely measured.

It is a physiological sensation.
It is related to sensitivity of ear.
Measurement of loudness is not
possible.

Difference between musical sound & noise

Music sound
1) A sound that is pleasant of hear is
known as musical sound.
2) The variation of amplitude is smooth
and continuous.
3) It is produced by a series of similar
impulses that follow each other regularly
without sudden change in frequency or
amplitude.

Loudness

Noise
A sound that is harsh & jarring
to hear is known as noise.
the amplitude varies irregularly
and sharply.
A noise is merely an outburst of
sound lasting for a short time.

Characteristics of a musical note:

1) Pitch & frequency.
2) Intensity & loudness.
3) Quality or timbre.

Pitch & frequency: The sensation of shrillness produced by a note is known as pitch. The pitch
depends on frequency of the vibrating particles. Pitch is the sensation of shrillness whereas
frequency is a physical quantity.

Difference between pitch & frequency:

Pitch

Frequency

1) It is the characteristic of sound due

Frequency is the number of
to which sound appears to be shrill or
waves produced per sound.
grave.
2) Physical measurement of pitch is not
Physical measurement of
possible.
frequency is possible.
Intensity & loudness: Every musical note has characteristic intensity & loudness.

Quality or Timbre: It is that property that enables us to distinguish it from

another note of the same pitch & loudness. It depends on the presence of overtones, the order of
overtones & the relative intensity of overtones.
Beats: The periodic rise & fall in intensity of sound is known as the phenomenon of beats.
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M.N.Sharath kumar,
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Analytical treatment of beats:

Consider two sound waves of same amplitude `A` & slightly different frequencies f1 & f 2
traveling in the same direction in air. The displacement equations can be written as
y1

Asin

y2

Asin

The resultant displacement of the particle due to superposition is

y y1
A(sin
1

A 2sin

Where R

y2
sin
1t

A 2sin 2

f1t

2A cos 2

f1

R sin 2

f1

2
2
f2
2
f1

2A cos 2

f2
2

t)

cos

f2 t
f2

cos 2

t sin 2

2
f1 t

f2 t
2

f1

f2
2

t
t is the amplitude of the wave.

The intensity of the resultant sound becomes maximum when

cos 2

f1

f1

f2

i.e 2

f2
2

t 0, , 2 , 3 .......
2
(f1 f2 )t 0,1, 2, 3.......
1
2
Or t 0,
,
......
f1 f 2 f1 f2

The interval between two successive maxima is TB

1
f1

f2

The number of times intensity of sound becomes maximum per second is

fB

1
TB

f1

f2

Application of beats:
1) To determine the frequency of a tuning fork:
'
Consider a tuning fork `A` of unknown frequency f .Another fork `B` of frequency `f `
is selected such that A & B produces beats when sounded together. The beat frequency m is
found
f'

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M.N.Sharath kumar,
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When we load A with a bit of wax on its prongs, its frequency. Thus
the beat frequency is f ' f m .If the beat frequency decreases, the
actual frequency would by f ' f m .
2) Tuning of musical instruments: Two musical instruments are
sounded together so
as to produce no beats.
3) Detection of harmful gases in mines.
Doppler effect: The apparent change in frequency due to relative motion
between the source and observer is known as Doppler effect.

Doppler

General case of Doppler effect in sound:

VL
S

S'

p'

Vw

VS
V

Consider a source S emitting sound waves of frequency f. Let these waves propagates in air &
wind move along with a steady speed Vw & let a listener also move with a speed VL along xdirection.
a) Let both the listener & source be at rest. If is the wavelength of sound waves, then
V= f -------- (1)
b) In one second, let source of sound travel a distance of Vs . The sound waves will travel a
distance v in this time. Due to wind, an additional distance of Vw .
In one second, let f be the number of waves emitted per second. These number of waves
' '
occupy a distance of S P .
S' P'
f

'

SP
v

'

vw
f

PP'
f
vs

SS'
(2)

The apparent frequency as heard by the moving listner is given by

f'

v vw vL
v vw vs
f
v vw vL
f
v vw vs

vL

vL

'

f'

If wind is still, then the apparent change is

f'

v
v

vL
f
vs

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M.N.Sharath kumar,
9886861096

Special cases:
1) Source of sound moving towards a stationary listener.
Then VL 0 , Vs Vs
v

f'

Vs

f ' f Thus the when source of sound moves towards a stationary listner, the apparent

frequency increases.

2)Source of sound moving away from stationary listner

Vs Vs

VL 0 ,

f'

Vs

f ' f . When a source of sound moves away from a stationary listner, the apparent

frequency decreases.
3) Listener moving towards a stationary source of sound:
Then Vs 0 , VL VL
v

f'

VL
f
V

Thus f ' f , when a listener moves towards a stationary source of sound, the apparent frequency
increases.

4)Listener moving away from a stationary source of sound:

Vs 0 VL VL

Thus f ' f , when a listener moves away from stationary source of sound, apparent frequency
decreases.
5) Source & listener approaching each other:

Vs Vs ,

f'

VL VL
v VL
f
v Vs

f ' f . Thus the apparent frequency increases.

6) Source & listener moving away from each other:

VL VL , Vs Vs
f'

v VL
v Vs

Thus f ' f . Apparent frequency decreases.

Doppler effect in light: The apparent change in the frequency of light due to the motion between the
source of light & the observer.
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M.N.Sharath kumar,
9886861096

Differences between Doppler effect in sound & light

Doppler effect in sound
Doppler effect in light
1) It depends whether the source is
in motion or listner is in motion.
2) Speed of medium affects apparent
frequency.
3) Laws of addition of velocities is
applicable.
4) It is asymmetric

Depends on relative motion of source &

observer.
The speed of medium do not contribute
for shift.
Law of addition of velocities in
relativistic mechanics is applicable.
It is symmetric.

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M.N.Sharath kumar,
9886861096