Course Code: PH3151

Course Title: Engineering Physics

UNIT II : OSCILLATIONS, SOUND AND THERMAL
PHYSICS
Lecture_03

Sound waves
Doppler effect

Sound waves

• Sound waves are longitudinal mechanical waves that propagate through gases,
liquids, and solids.
• the molecules of the medium oscillate (move back and forth) along the line of
propagation
• alternately compression and rarefactions created in the medium
• the wave disturbance comprises a small change in air pressure and density
accompanied by a back-and-forth motion of the air

A sound wave consists of alternating regions of compression propagating through the air. Longitudinal wave pulse on a spring
 As a harmonic sound wave travels through air, the displacement of air molecules, the
pressure and the density all vary sinusoidally with the frequency of the vibrating source
[Eg: vibrating diaphragm of a loudspeaker, prong of a tuning fork]

Thus the sound wave consists of alternating zones of high and low density of air.
As the air molecules merely oscillates back and forth longitudinally, the sound wave itself is
longitudinal.

The intensity I of a sound wave

If an observer is at a distance ‘r’ from a source of sound in 3D, the average power at the
source (P) is spread over a sphere (imaginary) of area 4 r2 and the intensity of the sound is

As a sound wave spreads out from its source, its intensity falls off because the area of the
wave front grows larger, and therefore the wave energy per unit area grows smaller

The intensity of sound is often expressed on a logarithmic scale called the intensity
level.
The unit of intensity level is the decibel (dB)
The intensity of sound β, is measured in decibels (dB) defined as

where Io = 10-12 W/m2 is the reference intensity, the minimum an human ear can
detect or hear.
So the minimum intensity the human ear can hear is 0dB.
A whisper is 15dB, while a rock concert or jet engines is around 120dB.
Due to the logarithmic scale, an increase in intensity by a factor of 100,000 causes
an increase of 50dB
The difference in decibels between two different
intensities I1 and I2 is 10 log10 ( I1/ I2 ).
Doppler Effect

a wave source and a receiver are moving relative to each other, the received frequency is not the
same as the frequency of the source.
If they are moving closer together, the received frequency is greater than the source frequency
If they are moving farther apart, the received frequency is less than the source frequency
-- This is called the Doppler effect.
Eg: the drop in pitch of the sound of the horn of an approaching car as the car passes by.

What causes this apparent frequency change?

A point source at rest in the medium radiates waves uniformly in all directions
when the source moves, wave crests bunch up in the direction toward which the source is moving,
resulting in a decreased wavelength ( higher freq)
In the opposite direction, wave crests spread out and the wavelength increases (lesser freq)

waves from a source at rest with

respect to the medium. waves from a source at rest with respect to the medium.

The Doppler effect is a change in the observed frequency of a wave due to

relative motion of the source and the observer.
Let the frequency of the source be f, the wavelength be λ , and the speed of sound to
be v. The observer moves with a speed vo .
If sound source S and the observer O were stationary ( when vo= 0 and vs = 0) the
observed frequency equals the source frequency.
When the observer moves toward the source, the speed of the waves relative to the
observer is
v’ = v + vo
but the wavelength λ is unchanged. Hence, the frequency heard by the observer has
increased
(using v=f λ)

Because λ =v/f ,

If the observer is moving away from the source, the speed of the wave relative to the
observer is v’ = v – vo
The frequency heard by the observer in this case is decreased and is given by

In general, whenever an observer moves with a speed vo relative to a stationary

source, the frequency heard by the observer is

where the +ve sign is used when the observer moves toward the source and the -ve
sign is used when the observer moves away from the source.
The source is in motion and the observer is at rest.
If the source moves directly toward observer the wave fronts heard by the observer are
closer together. As a result, the wavelength λ’ measured by observer A is shorter than
the wavelength λ of the source.

During each vibration, which lasts for a time T (the period), the source moves a distance
s T = vs /f and the wavelength is shortened by this amount. Therefore, the observed
wavelength is

Hence the frequency heard by observer A is [ λ = vf ]

That is, the observed frequency is increased whenever the source is moving toward the observer.

When the source moves away from a stationary observer, the observer measures a
wavelength λ’ that is greater than λ and hears a decreased frequency:

The general relationship for the observed frequency when a source is moving and an
observer is at rest is

Finally, if both source and observer are in motion, the general relationship for the
observed frequency:

The upper signs(+ vo and - vs )refer to motion of one toward the other, and the lower
signs (-vo and + vs ) refer to motion of one away from the other
The Doppler effect holds not only for sound waves but also for EM waves,
including microwaves, radio waves, and visible light.
The relative motion of source and observer produces a frequency shift in light
waves.

Police radar uses the Doppler shift of high-frequency radio waves reflected from
moving vehicles to measure the speed.

The Doppler shift in reflected ultrasound measures blood flow and fetal heartbeat

Likewise, astronomers use the effect to determine the speeds of stars, galaxies, and
other celestial objects relative to the Earth.

The Doppler shift of starlight reveals stellar motions, and Doppler-shifted light from
distant galaxies is evidence that our entire universe is expanding