17.

1: SOUND
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General Physics at OpenStax CNX

Sound can be used as a familiar illustration of waves. Because hearing is one of our most important senses, it is interesting to see how
the physical properties of sound correspond to our perceptions of it. Hearing is the perception of sound, just as vision is the perception
of visible light. But sound has important applications beyond hearing. Ultrasound, for example, is not heard but can be employed to
form medical images and is also used in treatment.

Figure 17.1.1 : This glass has been shattered by a high-intensity sound wave of the same frequency as the resonant frequency of the
glass. While the sound is not visible, the effects of the sound prove its existence. (credit: ||read||, Flickr)
The physical phenomenon of sound is defined to be a disturbance of matter that is transmitted from its source outward. Sound is a
wave. On the atomic scale, it is a disturbance of atoms that is far more ordered than their thermal motions. In many instances, sound is
a periodic wave, and the atoms undergo simple harmonic motion. In this text, we shall explore such periodic sound waves.

A vibrating string produces a sound wave as illustrated in Figures 17.1.2 -17.1.4 . As the string oscillates back and forth, it transfers
energy to the air, mostly as thermal energy created by turbulence. But a small part of the string’s energy goes into compressing and
expanding the surrounding air, creating slightly higher and lower local pressures. These compressions (high pressure regions) and
rarefactions (low pressure regions) move out as longitudinal pressure waves having the same frequency as the string—they are the
disturbance that is a sound wave. (Sound waves in air and most fluids are longitudinal, because fluids have almost no shear strength. In
solids, sound waves can be both transverse and longitudinal.) Figure 17.1.4 shows a graph of gauge pressure versus distance from the
vibrating string.

Figure 17.1.2 : A vibrating string moving to the right compresses the air in front of it and expands the air behind it.

Figure 17.1.3 : As the string moves to the left, it creates another compression and rarefaction as the ones on the right move away
from the string.

17.1.1 Updated 4/14/2019

 Figure 17.1.4 : After many vibrations, there are a series of compressions and rarefactions moving out from the string as a sound
wave. The graph shows gauge pressure versus distance from the source. Pressures vary only slightly from atmospheric for ordinary
sounds.

The amplitude of a sound wave decreases with distance from its source, because the energy of the wave is spread over a larger and
larger area. But it is also absorbed by objects, such as the eardrum in Figure 17.1.5 , and converted to thermal energy by the viscosity
of air. In addition, during each compression a little heat transfers to the air and during each rarefaction even less heat transfers from the
air, so that the heat transfer reduces the organized disturbance into random thermal motions. (These processes can be viewed as a
manifestation of the second law of thermodynamics presented in Introduction to the Second Law of Thermodynamics: Heat Engines
and Their Efficiency.) Whether the heat transfer from compression to rarefaction is significant depends on how far apart they are—that
is, it depends on wavelength. Wavelength, frequency, amplitude, and speed of propagation are important for sound, as they are for all
waves.

Figure 17.1.5 : Sound wave compressions and rarefactions travel up the ear canal and force the eardrum to vibrate. There is a net
force on the eardrum, since the sound wave pressures differ from the atmospheric pressure found behind the eardrum. A complicated
mechanism converts the vibrations to nerve impulses, which are perceived by the person.

PHET EXPLORATIONS: WAVE INTERFERENCE

Make waves with a dripping faucet, audio speaker, or laser! Add a second source or a pair of slits to create an interference pattern.

Figure 17.1.6 : Wave Interference

SUMMARY
Sound is a disturbance of matter that is transmitted from its source outward.
Sound is one type of wave.
Hearing is the perception of sound.

17.1.2 Updated 4/14/2019

GLOSSARY
sound
a disturbance of matter that is transmitted from its source outward

hearing
the perception of sound

CONTRIBUTORS
Paul Peter Urone (Professor Emeritus at California State University, Sacramento) and Roger Hinrichs (State University of New
York, College at Oswego) with Contributing Authors: Kim Dirks (University of Auckland) and Manjula Sharma (University of
Sydney). This work is licensed by OpenStax University Physics under a Creative Commons Attribution License (by 4.0).

17.1.3 Updated 4/14/2019