EXAMINATION REFERENCE MATERIAL

2024-25
GRADE 10 PHYSICS

BHOPAL
CHAPTER: SOUND
 POINTS TO REMEMBER
 Sound: It is a form of energy that produces a sensation of hearing in our ears.
- Sound waves require a medium for their propagation, making them mechanical waves.
- The medium's particles vibrate parallel to the direction of wave propagation, classifying them as longitudinal waves.
 Range of Hearing: The audible range of sound for human beings is from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.
 Infrasonic Sound: Sounds with frequencies lower than 20 Hz are called infrasonic sounds or infrasound. They are
inaudible to humans and are generated during earthquakes.
 Ultrasonic Sound: Sounds with frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz are called ultrasonic sounds or ultrasound. These
sounds are also inaudible to humans, but animals like bats and dolphins can produce and hear them.
 Terms Related to Sound:
1. Amplitude (a): The maximum displacement of a medium particle on either side of its mean position.
2. Time Period (T): The time taken by a medium particle to complete one vibration.
3. Frequency (f): The number of vibrations made by a medium particle in one second.
4. Wavelength (λ): The distance traveled by the wave in one time period of vibration of a particle.
5. Wave Velocity (V): The distance traveled by a wave in one second.

 Relationship between velocity, frequency, and wavelength

𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅(𝑽) = 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 (𝒇) × 𝑾𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉(𝝀)
 Speed of sound in a gaseous medium:
γP
𝑽=√𝑑 [where γ = the ratio of two specific heats, P = pressure, d = density]
 Factors affecting the speed of sound:
- Temperature (when temperature increases speed of sound increases and vice versa.
- Density (when the density of a medium (gaseous) decreases speed of sound increases and vice versa)

 REFLECTION OF SOUND
- The returning back of the sound wave on striking a surface such as wall, metal sheet, etc., is known as reflection of
sound wave.
- It does not require a smooth and shining surface like mirror.
- The reflection of sound takes place in accordance with the same laws as those governing the reflection of light.
- The condition for reflection of sound wave is that the size of the reflecting surface must be bigger than the wavelength
of the sound wave.
- Echo: The phenomenon of repetition of sound caused by reflection of sound waves is called an echo.

 Condition for hearing an echo:

1. The size of the obstacle must be large as compared to the wavelength of the incident sound.
2. The minimum time elapsed between the production of original sound and the reflected sound reaching the observer
should be 0.1 s
3. The intensity or loudness of the sound should be sufficient enough, so that the reflected sound can be heard easily.
 Speed of sound by the method of echo:
𝟐𝒅
V=
𝒕
 Uses of echo:
- Bats and dolphins make use of the phenomenon of echoes in nature.
- Trawlerman makes use of echoes to find the depth of ocean beds or detect submerged objects.
- RADAR and SONAR also use echoes to find the position and distance of an enemy airplane, under water dangers, or
for sound ranging.
- In the medical field for imaging of human organs (womb, liver, uterus).
 NATURAL VIBRATIONS:
- Natural vibrations occur when a body vibrates freely without any external force. The body vibrates at its natural
frequency.
- A body executes natural vibrations only when restoring forces are present.
 DAMPED VIBRATIONS:
- Damped vibrations are periodic vibrations where the amplitude gradually decreases over time due to the presence of a
damping force, such as friction or air resistance.
- This force acts in the opposite direction to the motion of the vibrating body.
- Two forces acts on the body: 1. Restoring force 2. Frictional force.

 FORCED VIBRATIONS:
- Forced vibrations occur when an external force continuously drives a system to vibrate at a frequency other than its
natural frequency.
- These vibrations can be sustained as long as the external force is applied.
- Three forces acts on the body: 1. Restoring force 2. Frictional force 3. External Periodic force.
 RESONANCE:
- Resonance occurs when the frequency of a forced vibration matches the natural frequency of the vibrating body,
leading to a significant increase in the amplitude of the vibrations.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND
1. Loudness ( Depends on Amplitude )
2. Pitch ( Depends on Frequency )
3. Quality ( Depends on waveform )

 PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. What is meant by echo?
2. What are the conditions to hear an echo?
3. Define reverberation.
4. State applications of echoes. Echolocation, SONAR, Radars
5. What do you understand by free vibrations? In the presence of which force do these vibrations execute? no external force
6. Draw a graph between displacement and the time for a body executing free vibrations.
7. How is the frequency of a stretched string related to (i) Its length and (ii) Its tension?
8. A bucket kept under a running tap is getting filled with water. A person sitting at a distance is able to get an idea when
the bucket is about to be filled.
(i) What change takes place in the sound to give this idea? its pitch increases
(ii) What causes the change in the sound? change in frequency the vibrations stop because there is no
9. What do you understand by damped vibrations? external force
10. What happens to the vibrations of the body after some time when no external periodic force is applied to it and why?
11. Why a loud sound is produced in resonance?
12. Draw a graph between displacement and the time for a body executing damped vibrations.
13. Name one factor which affects the frequency of sound emitted due to vibrations in an air column.
14. How is it that, bats are able to fly at night without colliding with other objects? echolocation
15. Differentiate between Natural and Damped Vibrations.
16. Differentiate between Forced Vibrations and Resonance. length of air column.
17. Mention the condition for resonance.
18. Name the phenomenon that causes a loud sound when the stem of a vibration tuning fork is kept pressed on the surface
of a table. resonance
19. Name the waves used for echo depth sounding. Give one reason for their use for the above purpose. Why are the
waves mentioned by you not audible to us? ultrasonic waves; they are above the upper limit of frequency audible to humans
20. What is the objective nature of the loudness of sound? State the safe limit of sound level in terms of decibel for human
hearing. amplitude; 80 decibels
21. Two pendulums C and D are suspended from a wire as shown in the figure given below. Pendulum C is made to
oscillate by displacing it from its mean position. It is seen that D also starts oscillating.
a) Name the type of oscillation, C will execute. damped vibration
b) Name the type of oscillation, D will execute. forced vibration
c) If the length of D is made equal to C, then what difference will you notice in the oscillations of D?
d) What is the name of the phenomenon when the length of D is made equal to C? resonance
22. Name the factor that determines :
(i) loudness of the sound heard amplitude (ii) quality of the note
(iii) pitch of the note frequency
23. Name and define the phenomenon involved, in tuning the radio set
24. A sound wave travelling in water has a wavelength of 0.4 m. Is this wave audible in water? (The speed of sound in
water = 1400 m/s)
25. A ship on the surface of water sends a signal and receives it back after 4s from a submarine inside the water. Calculate
the distance of the submarine from the ship. (Take, the speed of sound in water is 1450 m/s)
Ans: 2900 m
26. The human ear can detect continuous sounds in the frequency range from 20 Hz to 20000 Hz. Assuming that the
speed of sound in air is 330 m/s for all frequencies, calculate the wavelengths corresponding to the given extreme
frequencies of the audible range.
Ans: 16.5m, 16.5 × 10-3m
27. The ratio of the amplitudes of two waves is 9: 16. What is the ratio of their intensities?
Ans: 81: 256
28. A wire of length 80 cm has a frequency of 256 Hz. Calculate the length of a similar wire under similar tension, which
will have a frequency of 1024 Hz.
Ans: 0.2 m
29. Two waves of the same pitch have their amplitudes in the ratio 3: 4. (i) What will be the ratio of their loudness? (ii)
What will be the ratio of their intensities? (iii) What will be the ratio of their frequencies?
Ans: i. 9:16, ii. 9:16, iii 1:1
30. Two men 1.02 km apart stand at the same distance from a vertical hillock. One of them fires a shot and the other hears
the echo 2s after hearing the direct sound. Find the distance of the man from the hillock assuming the velocity of
sound to be 340 m/s.
Ans: 850m
31. A certain sound has a frequency of 256 Hz and a wavelength of 1.3 m. (a) Calculate the speed with which this sound
travels. (b) What difference would be felt by a listener between the above sound and another sound travelling at the
same speed, but of wavelength 2.6 m?
Ans: 332.8 m/s
32. A person is standing at the seashore. An observer on the ship which is anchored in between a vertical cliff and the
person on the shore fires a gun. The person on the shore hears two sounds, 2 seconds and 3 seconds after seeing the
smoke of the fired gun. If the speed of sound in the air is 320 m/s, then calculate (i) the distance between the observer
on the ship and the person on the shore.
(ii) the distance between the cliff and the observer on the ship.

33. A boy standing in front of a wall at a distance of 85 m produces 2 claps per second. He notices that the sound of his
clapping coincides with the echo. The echo is heard only once when clapping is stopped. Calculate the speed of sound.
Ans: 340 m/s
34. A pendulum has a frequency of 4 vibrations per second. An observer starts the pendulum and fires a gun
simultaneously. He hears the echo from the cliff after 6 vibrations of the pendulum. If the velocity of sound in air is
340 m/s, find the distance between the cliff and the observer.
Ans: 255 m