Chapter 6

Sound and space

 What is sound?
und is a type of energy that travels in waves and is created w
thing vibrates.

und wave need a medium (like air, water or solid materials) to

und can`t travel in empty space.

 Making sounds
 All sounds are caused by something vibrating.

 The vibrations are not always visible because they

may be too small or too fast.

 Vibrating sources cause the air around them to

vibrate.

 These vibrations are passed through the air to our

ears where they cause the eardrum to vibrate, and
we hear sound.
 How does sound travel?
Sound is a series of vibrations passing through air or another material.

The source of the sound vibrates, and this makes the air particles around it vibrate
back and forward in the direction the sound is travelling.

These vibrations make a sound wave.

 Loudness and amplitude
ness of a sound is a way to describe how quite or loud a sound appears

ness of sound depends on two variables:

(i) how much the object is vibrating- greater the range of each vibra
the sound.

(ii) how far the vibrating object is- the further away the quieter the s
 Loudness and amplitude
he maximum distance the particles move, either forward or backward in
sound wave, is called the amplitude.

Amplitude is the distance from the zero to the top or peak of the graph
Or
mplitude is the distance from the zero to the bottom or trough of the gra
 Seeing sound Waves

 You can see sound waves when a microphone is connected to an

oscilloscope.
 A microphone changes the sound waves into an electrical signal.
 The oscilloscope then shows what these electrical waves look like.
 Pitch and frequency
 The pitch of a sound refers to how high or low it sounds to our
ears.

 It's primarily determined by the frequency of the sound wave:

higher frequencies produce higher pitches, while lower
frequencies produce lower pitches.
 Pitch and frequency
he pitch of the sound is how high or low the sound appears o
sical scale.

he pitch of the sound depends on the speed of vibration.

he speed of vibration is measured by the number of complete

rations per second.

he number of vibrations each second is called frequency.

So as the frequency of sound wave increases, the pitch of the

o increases.
Pitch and frequency
 Pitch and frequency
requency is measured in a unit called hertz or Hz.

frequency of 500 hertz means that 500 complete vibrations happens p

ond.

We can use oscilloscope to compare the frequencies of sound waves of d

ches.

https://youtu.be/wEL87lznGrg?si=PnHuC1t-s0ycCY1k
Interference of sound
 Interferen
ce

hen you dip your finger in and out of water, you can make a w
 Interference

When two sets of water waves meet each other, a pattern

gets
Theformed.
effect that is produced when the waves meet each
other is called interference.
 Interference

When two or more light waves overlap and combine, producing a

resultant wave with different intensity patterns.
 Interference of sound waves
und waves also produce interference when they meet each ot

terference is easy to detect when the waves are of same frequ

same wavelength.

terference can produce two effects: the wave can reinforce or

e can cancel each other.
 Interference of sound waves
ng interference of tow sound waves:

he amplitude of the two waves that interfere are added togeth

y cancel out.

he frequency of the two waves that interfere does not change

Interference of sound waves

https://www.britannica.com/video/Wave-interference-overview-sound-waves/-245554
Interference of sound waves
 The headphone pick up the sound from the surround

 Then analyze the soundwave and create another sou

wave with same amplitude and frequency but out of p

 This wave is used to cancel the sound wave from th

ounding.
Formation of moon
 Where did the moon come from?
early twentieth century, scientist thought that the moon was
tting away from the earth.

his theory was correct, the moon would be still be slowly mov
rom the earth.

has been found that each year, moon is moving about 4cm aw
he earth.

s calculation could not completely confirm the theory that the

rmed by splitting away from the earth.
Where did the moon come from?
 Collision theory for formation of the moon

cording to collision theory a newly formed planet, about same size as m

ded with the newly formed Earth.

entist have called the colliding planet Theia.

e collision would have caused the rocks and dust to break away from bo
ets.

e theory suggest that earth was formed from the two-planet joined toge

e moon was formed when the rocks and dust was pulled together by gra
Collision theory for formation of the moon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6LTmoUE7sc
Evidence that supports the collision Evidence that contradicts the collision
theory theory
1. The moon is less dense than earth The surface of the Earth does not appear to
ever have been molten. A collision that
2. Sample of the rock from the moon shows formed moon would have caused the surface
that its surface was once molten. of the earth to melt.

3. The moon has a small iron core similar to Venus has no moon. Collision in the early
earth years of the solar system would have been
common and scientists would have expected
4. There is evidence outside the solar system Venus to have a moon formed in the same
of similar collision causing rings of rocks way.
and dust.

5. The collision theory fits well with the theory The composition of the rock on the moon
of how solar system was formed. would be expected to be more similar to rock
on Theia than rock on Earth.
In fact, the composition of the moon is more
similar to earth.
https://youtu.be/VFXJnbnN5ro?si=yJxpbmZuUeP2Q
xeI

Nebulae
• Nebulae are clouds of dust and gas
in space.

• The gases found in nebulae are

mostly hydrogen and a smaller
quantity of Helium.

• A nebula the same size as the Earth

would have a mass of only a few
kgs.

• Most nebulae are very large.

• Many nebulae are 10,000 times

bigger than the solar system.
 Nebulae
 Some nebulae are formed when giant stars reach the end of
their life.

 These giant stars then explode sending dust and gas over a
wide area of space.

 From the northern hemisphere, nebulae that is visible is the

Orion nebulae.

 From the southern hemisphere the nebulae that is visible is

Tarantula nebula.
 Stellar
nurseries
• A stellar nursery is an area in space where stars are formed.

• Some type of nebulae acts as stellar nurseries.

• In a stellar nursery, the dust and gas can start to collapse together
under the force of gravity.

• When the mas of dust and gas collects together and becomes
larger the force of gravity pulling inwards increases.

• When this force gets very large the pressure inside the new star
also get very large.

• The high pressure causes heat.

• The heat can cause atoms to react with each other, causing the
 Tectonics
 Tectonics is the study of the Earth's crust
and how it's formed and changed over time.

 The outer layers of the earth are the solid,

rocky crust which rest on the more fluid
mantle.

 The temperature in the inner core is over

50000C.

 The high temperature is due to thermal

energy left over from the formation of earth,
friction inside the earth and the types of
reactions that happens in the rocks.
 Movement of the tectonic plates
 Tectonic plates are large, irregularly shaped slabs of solid rock
that make up the Earth's crust.

 The fluid in the mantle expands when it gets thermal energy from
the core.

 The fluid then expands when heated and becomes less dense than
the surrounding fluid.

 The hotter, less dense fluid in the mantle rises

towards the crust, cools and sink again resulting in a convection
current.
 Movement of the tectonic plates
 The mantle is very thick fluid and does not flow easily like water, so the convection
currents move very slowly.

 As the convection currents in the mantle move across underneath the crust, tectonic
plates are pulled along.

 Since convection current are slow the movement of the tectonic plates is also slow,
varying between 0.6 cm to 10 cm per year.
 Evidence for tectonic plates
 When we look at the map of the world it looks like the continents could fit
together like a pieces of a giant Jigsaw puzzle.
 Evidence for tectonic plates
 The fossil record provides more evidence for tectonic plates and their movement.

 Fossils of an extinct reptile called Mesosaurus have been found in the parts of Africa
and South America that would fit together in the jigsaw model of the continent.
 Evidence for tectonic plates
 300 years old fossils of the plant Glossopteris have been found in Antarctica, India,
Australia, Africa and South America.

 This give more evidence to the hypothesis that these continents were once joined.
describe what makes convection currents in the Earth`s mant

The mantle is heated by the core; molten rock in contact with

the core is heated (by conduction); this expands, becomes less
dense and rises through the mantle; cooling occurs next to the
crust (which is cooler) and the molten rock sinks again.

Q2. Describe what is meant by the term tectonic plate.

A tectonic plate is part of the Earth's crust that can move; it is

supported on the mantle and moves on the mantle.
Q3. The continents were originally one large mass of land; this split
apart, so the continental coastlines that we see today are the lines
made by the splitting. The movement was caused by the movement
of tectonic plates; in theory, the continents could be pushed back
together to fit again.

Q4. Some fossils of the same species are found in continents that
appear as if they could fit together, such as South America and
Africa.
This suggests that these continents were once joined. Tectonic
plate theory explains how the continents have moved apart.
Q4. (b) Magnetic materials in molten rocks line up with the Earth's
magnetic field and remain in this alignment when the rock solidifies;
the Earth's magnetic field reverses over periods of millions of years.
Rocks either side of mid-ocean ridges(where new rock forms) show
symmetrical patterns of opposing alignments; this suggests the new
rock forms and pushes the tectonic plates apart at these places.

Q6. The map supports this statement because most of the

earthquakes and volcanoes occur at, or close to, plate boundaries,
but a few earthquakes and volcanoes have been recorded far from
plate boundaries.
 6.4 Getting started
Q1. Describe how the planets in the solar system were formed

Ans: The planets in the Solar System formed from a disc of dust and gas.
Particles attracted each other by gravity and gradually gained mass,
so attracting more dust and gas to grow still bigger.

Q2. List ways in which planets and stars are

a) Different (b) the same

Ans: (a) Stars give out their own light, planets reflect the light of stars; stars are
much bigger than planets; a star is usually at the centre of a solar system
with planets orbiting the star.

b) Both objects are round / spherical / same shape; both are formed in a similar
way.
Questions:
1. They are clouds of dust and gas in space.
Galaxies are larger; galaxies may contain nebulae but not the other way
around; galaxies contain older stars and planet systems that formed many
millions of years ago; galaxies contain other objects such as comets and
asteroids.

2. hydrogen and helium

3 a A place in a nebula where stars are formed.

bB

4. Dust and gas particles are pulled together by gravity; as the object grows,
the force of gravity increases; the increasing force of gravity attracts more
material; as the object grows larger the pressure inside increases; high
pressure inside the object can start reactions that give out heat and light.