Course code: EAB1110

Sound Wave
 Sound and Hearing
• Sound Waves: Sound waves are longitudinal waves (i.e. involve oscillations parallel to the direction of the
wave travel) that propagate through a medium (e.g. air, water, solid).

Many behaviors of sound can be explained using a few properties – speed,

intensity and loudness, and frequency and pitch.

Wavefront
Source S

Ray

Medium
oscillations
Periodic sound waves.
(A constant tone is a periodic sound wave)

Condensation:
Regions of compressed gas.

Rarefactions:
Regions of rarefied gas.
Pressure Wave
Since a sound wave consists of a repeating pattern of high – pressure and low – pressure regions
moving through a medium, it is sometimes referred to as a pressure wave. In fact, a plot of
pressure versus time would appear as a sine curve. The peak points of the sine curve correspond
to compressions; the low points correspond to rarefactions; and the "zero points" correspond to
the pressure that the air would have if there were no disturbance moving through it.
Frequency of Sound
Longitudinal mechanical waves can propagate in solids, liquids and gases. According to their
frequencies; longitudinal mechanical waves can be classified into the following types:
1. Sonic (Audible) Waves:
Their frequencies are from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.
2. Infrasonic Waves:
Their frequencies are ˂ 20 Hz.
3. Ultrasonic Waves:
Their frequencies are ˃ 20,000 Hz.
Mathematical Description of a Sound Wave
• Traveling Sound Waves in Air: A traveling sound waves consist of a moving periodic pattern of
expansions and compressions of the air. As the wave passes the air elements oscillate longitudinally in
simple harmonic motion.

Longitudinal
displacement

s ( x, t )  smax cos(kx  t )
Displacement of small volume element:
sx, t   smax coskx  t 
 smax is the maximum position of the element relative to equilibrium.
 This is also called the displacement amplitude of the wave.
 k is the wave number.
 ω is the angular frequency of the wave.
 Note the displacement of the element is along x, in the direction of the sound
wave.

Pressure variation:
Pressure

Px, t   Pmax sin kx  t 

variation

(Pmax ) (The pressure amplitude is related to the displacement amplitude!)

It is the maximum change in pressure from the equilibrium value.

A small cylindrical element of undisturbed gas of length and area A. The volume of this element is

This element of gas after a sound wave has moved it to a new position. The cylinder’s two flat
faces move through different distances s1 and s2. The change in volume of the element in
the new position is equal to

Pressure variation in the element of gas as a function of its change in volume:

Where (B) is bulk modulus

Let the length of the cylinder approach zero so that the ratio becomes a partial
derivative:

Substitute the position function given by Equation:

Where, For sinusoidal Sound wave.

 Pmax is the pressure amplitude.

 This relationship is given by

Pmax = B smax k.
 B is the bulk modulus of the material.
Speed of Sound in a Gas:
The speed of the longitudinal wave (Sound) through a fluid with density 𝜌 and Bulk modulus 𝐵 is derived as
follow:
The cylindrical element of gas between the piston and the dashed line. This element
of gas is in equilibrium under the influence of forces of equal magnitude, from the
piston on the left and from the rest of the gas on the right. The magnitude of each of
these forces is (PA), where P is the pressure in the gas and A is the cross-sectional
area of the tube. The length of the undisturbed element of gas is chosen to be (v∆t)
a force from the left on the piston that has increased in magnitude to (P+∆P)A.
Because the speed of sound is v, the sound wave will just reach the right end of the
cylindrical element of gas at the end of the time interval ∆t.

At this moment every bit of gas in the element is moving with speed 𝒗𝒙

The impulse momentum theorem,

The impulse is provided by the constant force due to the increased pressure on the piston:
The pressure change ∆P can be related to the volume
change and then to the speeds 𝑣 and 𝑣𝑥 through the
bulk modulus:

Therefore, the impulse becomes

On the left-hand side of the impulse–momentum theorem,

the change in momentum of the element of gas of mass m is
as follows:

The speed of sound in a gas: bulk modulus (B) of materials

volume density (ρ ) of materials
To compare this expression with Equation:

speed of transverse waves on a string,

The wave speed depends on an elastic property of the medium (bulk modulus B or string tension T ) and on an
inertial property of the medium (volume density ρ or linear density m). In fact, the speed of all mechanical waves
follows an expression of the general form:

For longitudinal sound waves in a solid rod of material, for example, the speed of sound depends on Young’s modulus Y
and the density ρ.

The speed of sound also depends on the temperature of the medium. For sound traveling through air, the relationship
between wave speed and air temperature is

where 𝑣 is in m/s, 331 m/s is the speed of sound in air at 0 C, and TC is the air temperature in
degrees Celsius. Using this equation, one finds that at 20 C, the speed of sound in air is
approximately 343 m/s.
The relationship between pressure amplitude and displacement amplitude for a
sound wave:

Where,
The density of a gas is more readily available than is the bulk modulus.
Example (1)
In a liquid with density 1300 kg/m³, longitudinal waves with frequency 400 Hz are found to have
wavelength 8.00 m. Calculate the bulk modulus of the liquid.

Solution
In the liquid velocity of the longitudinal wave is:
Example (2)
At a baseball game, a spectator is 60.0 m away from the batter. How long does it take the sound of
the bat connecting with the ball to travel to the spectator’s ears? The air temperature is 27.0 oC.

Solution
The speed of sound in the air depends on the temperature as follows:

T
v(T )  v0
T0
where T is measured in degrees Kelvin with T0 = 273 oK and v0 = 331 m/s.
Also, T(oK) = T(oC) + 273 Hence,

300.15
v(27 C )  (331m / s)

 347.0m / s
273.15
d 60m
t 
  0.173s  172.9ms
v(27 C ) 347.0m / s
Example (3)
Find the speed of sound in mercury, which has a bulk modulus of approximately 2.8×1010 𝑁/𝑚2
and a density of 13600 kg/m³.

Example (4)
As a certain sound wave travels through the air, it produces pressure variations (above and below
atmospheric pressure) given by Δ𝑃=1.27 𝑠𝑖𝑛 (𝜋 𝑥−340𝜋 𝑡) in SI units.
Find:
(a) The amplitude of the pressure variations.
(b) The frequency.
(c) The wavelength in air.
(d) The speed of the sound wave.
Intensity of Sound Waves

where we have used Power rather than P so that we don’t confuse power P with pressure P ! The force 𝐹Ԧ on the element of gas is
related to the pressure and the velocity 𝑣𝑥ሶ of the element

The time average power over one period of the oscillation. For any given value of 𝒙, which we can choose to be 𝒙 = 𝟎, the
average value of over one period T is.

intensity I of a wave,
Spherical waves emitted by a point source.
The average power emitted by the source must be distributed uniformly over each spherical wave front of
area 𝑨 = 𝟒𝝅𝒓𝟐 , where r is the distance from the point source to the wave front. Hence, the wave intensity at a
distance r from the source is.
A point source emits sound waves with an average power output of
80.0 W.
(A) Find the intensity 3.00 m from the source.
(B) Find the distance at which the intensity of the sound is 1.00 x 10-8 W/m2.

(A)

(B)
Sound Level in Decibels:
Range of intensities the human ear can detect. Because this range is so wide, it is
convenient to use a logarithmic scale, where the sound level (β) (Greek letter beta) is
defined by the equation:

I0 is called the reference intensity.

 It is taken to be the threshold of hearing.
 I0 = 1.00 x 10-12 W/ m2
 I is the intensity of the sound whose level is to be determined.
 is in decibels (dB)

Threshold of pain: I = 1.00 W/m2;  = 120 dB

Threshold of hearing: I0 = 1.00 x 10-12 W/ m2 corresponds to  = 0 dB
Two identical machines are positioned the same distance from a worker. The intensity of sound
delivered by each operating machine at the worker’s location is 2.0 x 10-7 W/m2.
(A) Find the sound level heard by the worker when one machine is operating.

(B) Find the sound level heard by the worker when two machines are operating.
The Doppler Effect
When a source of sound and a listener are in motion relative to each other, the frequency of the
sound heard by the listener is not the same as the source frequency. This Phenomenon is described
by Doppler.
Moving Listener and Stationary Source
When a listener moving with velocity 𝒗𝑳
toward a stationary source which emits a
sound wave with frequency 𝒇𝑺, velocity 𝒗
and wavelength 𝝀=𝒗/𝒇𝑺.
The speed of the waves relative to the
observer is:

The frequency the listener hears

Moving Source and Moving Listener:
In front of the source:
behind the source:

The frequency heard by the listener behind the source:

(source moving away from observer)

(source moving toward observer)

A submarine (sub A) travels through water at a speed of 8.00 m/s, emitting a sonar wave at a
frequency of 1400 Hz. The speed of sound in the water is 1533 m/s. A second submarine (sub B)
is located such that both submarines are traveling directly toward each other. The second
submarine is moving at 9.00 m/s.
 What frequency is detected by an observer riding on (sub B) as the subs approach each
other?
Example (5)
Two train whistles, A and B, each have a frequency of 392 Hz. A is stationary and B is moving
toward the right (away from A) at a speed of 35.0 m/s. A listener is between the two whistles and
is moving toward the right with a speed of 15.0 m/s As shown in the figure. No wind is blowing.
(a) What is the frequency from A as heard by the listener?
(b) What is the frequency from B as heard by the listener? Given that: the velocity of sound in
air 340 m/s.
Solution

The frequency from A is:

The frequency from B is:

Example (6)
A car alarm is emitting sound waves of frequency 520 Hz. You are on a motorcycle, traveling
directly away from the car. How fast must you be traveling if you detect a frequency of 490 Hz?
Given that: the velocity of sound in air 340 m/s.

Solution

The frequency is: