LO'SLO'S
• How sound travels ?
•How we hear sound ?
• What are audible and inaudible sounds ?
• How does sound requires a medium to travel ?
What is the speed of sound ?
HOW SOUND TRAVELS
When an object vibrates, it makes the adjacent air
molecules vibrate with the same frequency. These, in turn,
transfer their vibrations to the neighbouring molecules,
and this process goes on . Thus, waves of vibrations travel
all around from the vibrating object. This is similar to the
way waves are produced in water by a stone. Just as the
water waves die out after some distance, the air waves also
die out after travelling some distance. The greater the
amplitude of vibration, i.e. the louder the sound, the
greater is the distance it will travel before dying out.
Different parts of ear
Outer ear: It consists of the visible outer part of the ear called the
pinna, and the eartube. The eardrum is a tightly stretched
membrane that separates the outer ear from the middle ear.
Middle ear: It consists of three very tiny interlocked bones. The
innermost bone is connected to the inner ear through a tiny window.
Inner ear: It consists of a coiled organ of hearing, semicircular
canals, which are organs of balance, and the auditory nerve.
How do we hear sound
Our ears are sensory organs that help hear sound (Fig.
13.6b). Only its outer portion can be seen. The rest of the
delicate ear is buried deep inside the skull.A vibrating
object causes air molecules to vibrate. When these
vibrations reach our ear, they are collected by the pinna
and funnelled into the eartube. These then strike the
eardrum, which starts vibrating with the same frequency.
This causes the delicate bones of the middle ear to vibrate.
These bones amplify the vibrations and transmit them to
the inner ear. The vibrations stimulate tiny hair cells in
the hearing organ which send a signal to the auditory
nerve of our nervous system. The auditory nerve takes the
signal to the brain and we can then hear the sound.
AUDIBLE AND INAUDIBLE SOUNDS
Our ears can only hear sounds with frequencies between about 20 hertz and 20,000 hertz. This
is called the audible frequency range. Low frequency sounds which we cannot hear are called
infrasonics. It is a boon that we cannot hear infrasonics, otherwise we would have heard even
the sounds produced by our muscles and by our body movements. Objects that vibrate at
frequencies of above 20,000 hertz produce sound which also cannot be heard by us. Such sounds
are called ultrasonics.
However, some animals, such as dogs, can hear sounds of frequency above 20,000 hertz also.
Technology has made use of ultrasonics im
many ways. It is used to form images of organs inside the body. For example, ultrasonics are used
to study the growth of the foetus in the uterus of a woman. They are also used to detec flaws in
metals and structures.
Sound requires a medium to travel
We have read that for sound to travel to
our ears from a vibrating object, it is
necessary to have molecules that can
vibrate in the space in between the ear
and the object. That is, for sound to travel,
it is necessary to have a medium between
the vibrating object and the ear.
Speed Of Sound
The speed of sound in air at 20 °C is about 340 metres per second. This
means that if shout, your friend standing 340 metres away from you
would hear your shout after 1 second.
In solids and liquids, the molecules closer than they are in air. So, the
vibrations are transferred faster to other molecules in solids and liquids
than in air. Therefore, the speed of sound is maximum in solids, lesser in
liquids and minimum in gases. In fact, sound travels at a speed of about
1500 m/s in water and at 5000 m/s in steel, but as you have already read,
at 340 m/s in air. Compare the speed of sound in air to th speed of light
which is 3,00,000 kilometres pe second! You will realize that sound takes
abou 3 seconds to travel 1 km, where light trave
that distance in almost no time. Observe a person
about 200 metres away from you using a hammer. You
will find that the sound of the hammer reaches you a
fraction of a second after it strikes.
When a storm is raging, thunder and lightning occur at
the same time in the clouds. However, you will hear the
thunder a few seconds after you see the lightning.
Both these phenomena happen because light reaches
you almost instantly, while sound takes some time to
travel and reach to you.