Name: Grade: 6 Roll No: 2021-22

Subject: Science - Learning Packet 6 Unit: Sound

Sound
Sound as a form of energy created by vibration in matter
It's almost impossible to imagine a world without sound. It's probably the first thing you experience when you wake
up in the morning and you hear birds chirping or your alarm clock bleeping away. Sound energy is a form of energy
associated with the vibration of matter.
Sound is produced when things vibrate
(move back and forth quickly). If you
bang a drum, you make the tight skin
vibrate at a very high speed (it's so fast
that you can't usually see it), forcing the
air all around it to vibrate as well. As the
air moves, it carries energy out from the
drum in all directions. Eventually, even
the air inside your ears starts vibrating
and that's when you begin to perceive the
vibrating drum as a sound.
Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.
It always needs some medium such as
air, water, glass or metal to travel from
one place to the other. Sound waves can
travel in a gas, a liquid or a solid
because they all contain particles.

Vibration using a musical instrument

Sound is a form of energy. It is carried in the form of waves.
The necessary condition to produce sound: vibration of a particle. (vibration: to and fro motion of a particle about its
mean position)

How sound travels - compress and relax matter to propagate the energy
As a sound wave moves forward, it makes the air bunch together in some places and spread out in others. This
creates an alternating pattern of squashed-together areas (known as compressions) and stretched-out areas (known
as rarefactions). In other words, sound pushes and pulls the air back and forth. (Good to know: They are called
longitudinal waves because the air vibrates along the same direction as the wave travels.)
When an object vibrates, it makes the particles next to it vibrate. For example, when an object vibrates in the air it
pushes on the air particles around it. As the vibrating object moves towards the air particles it squashes them
together.
The particles themselves are
not compressed but the
pressure in the air at that place
rises because the particles are
closer together. As the object
moves away from the air
particles next to it, it gives them
more space and they spread
out and the pressure at that
place falls.
A vibrating object causes
pressure variations in the air
around it. As the object vibrates
the air particles nearby also
move backwards and forwards
and they, in turn, cause other
air particles further away to
squash together and then
spread out. This makes
alternate regions of high and
low pressure which travel
through the air away from the
vibrating object.

Wave Nature of Sound- frequency, amplitude, wavelength

Frequency: It is the measure of the number
of cycles per second. Frequency defines
how frequent is the oscillation of a particle
when the vibration or disturbance passes
through it. Its SI unit is Hertz (Hz).
Amplitude: The amplitude of a wave is
defined by the measurement of the
distance between the crest (or trough) and
the equilibrium position (zero). Its unit is
the same as the unit of length. Thus, the SI
unit of Amplitude is meter (m).
Wavelength: It is the length between two
consecutive crests or troughs. It resembles the length of one complete cycle. Its SI unit is meter (m).

Know properties of sound and their characteristics:

Audible and inaudible sound-Loudness, Pitch
Infrasonic wave: This is an Inaudible sound (Humans
cannot listen to this sound). A longitudinal wave whose
frequency is below the audible range i.e. 20 Hz, is called
an infrasonic sound wave. It is generally generated by a
large source or a huge sized animal. Example:
Earthquake, elephants.
Sonic Wave: This is an Audible sound (Humans can listen
to this sound). The human ear is sensitive to sound
waves of frequency between 20 Hz to 20 kHz. This range
is known as the audible range and these waves are
known as audible sound waves or sonic waves. Example:
Sound waves produced by vibrating sitar, guitar, organ
pipes, flutes, humans, etc.
Ultrasonic waves: This is an Inaudible sound (Humans cannot listen to this sound). A longitudinal wave whose
frequency is above the upper limit of audible range i.e. 20 kHz, is called an ultrasonic wave. Example: Sound waves
generated by Bats.
Loudness and Pitch are Physiological properties of sound. These characteristics of sound are defined with respect to
the way in which sound is perceived by human beings.

Loudness: The loudness of a sound is related to the movement of the vibrating object. If an object only moves a short
distance to and fro from its resting position. it will produce a sound wave with only a small amplitude and the sound
that is heard will be a quiet one.

If an object moves a large distance to and fro from its rest position (Equilibrium position), it will produce sound waves
with a large amplitude and the sound that is heard will be a loud one. The loudness of sounds is measured in decibels
(dB).

Pitch: Pitch is dependent on the frequency of the sound. Higher the frequency of the wave, the higher the pitch of
the sound. Pitch defines how ‘Shrill’ or ‘Grave’ the sound is. A high-pitched sound will be shriller compared to a
low-pitch sound which is graver. A female voice is generally high-pitched and a male voice is generally low-pitched.

Propagation of sound through solids, liquids and gases

The speed of sound is the distance that is travelled by the sound
wave per unit of time.

Propagation of sound through gases:

The speed of sound is an essential parameter. The speed of sound
when travelling through the air at 20 degrees Celsius of
temperature is 343.2 m/s which is equal to 1,236 km/h. The speed
of the sound through the air at 0 degrees Celsius of temperature is
about 330 m/s (precisely 331.5 m/s). The speed of the sound is
higher in warmer air compared to colder air. The speed of the
sound is the least in gas compared to liquid and solid as the particles in a gas are placed far away from each other.
Propagation of sound through liquids:
The density of a liquid is greater than the density of a gas. Therefore, the distances between molecules are more in
liquids than in solids but are less than in gases. Hence the speed of sound in liquids lies in between the speed of
sound in solids and gases.

Propagation of sound through solids:

Sound can travel through wood and iron too! In fact, sound enjoys travelling through solid more. In the olden days,
doctors used stethoscopes consisting of thin wooden rods with broadened ends and they worked exactly like our
modern ones and performed just as well.
Sound is nothing more than a disturbance that is propagated by the collisions between the particles; one particle
hitting the next and so forth. Solids are significantly denser than liquids or gases. This means that the particles are
closer to each other in solids than in liquids and in liquids than in gases. This closeness (higher density) means that
they can collide very quickly. Effectively it takes less time for a particle of a solid to bump into its neighbouring
particle. Due to this advantage, the speed of sound in a solid is greater than in gas and liquid.
Worksheet 1
1. Why should we not stand too close to the band at an outdoor event?
2. What is meant by ultrasound?
3. How can you make a guitar string sound louder?
4. Why does sound travel faster in a solid than in a gas or liquid?
5. Define a longitudinal wave and a transverse wave.
Worksheet 2
1. Who is most likely to hear a bat; an adult or a child?
2. How can you make a drum sound louder?
3. What is the worst noise you’ve ever heard? Use descriptive words to tell about it.
4. When a table tennis ball on a thread is made to touch the vibrating prong of a tuning fork, the ball swings
backwards and forwards. How can this demonstration be used to explain how sound waves are made?
Worksheet 3
1. What kind of ear damage might be caused by a loud explosion? Explain your answer.
2. Is the speed of sound different from the speed of light? Justify your answer with an example.
3. What is the range of frequency audible to human beings? What are these sounds called?
4. Explain why sound waves cannot travel through space.
5. Look at the first sound wave. Draw another sound wave that would have a lower pitch.

6. Look at the first sound wave. Draw another sound wave that would have a higher pitch.

7. What is your favourite musical instrument? Have you ever played this instrument, or do you just like to listen
to it? How does it work?