ACOUSTICS

CHAPTER 1
Fundamentals of Acoustics and
sounds

Sound
Sound is a result of wave created by
vibrating objects, propagated through
a medium.
It is also pressure fluctuations through
an elastic medium.
Sound waves
propagate

require

medium

to

Fundamentals of Acoustics and sounds

ACOUSTICS
Study of sound, its production,
transmission or propagation through fluid
and solid media.

MECHANICAL WAVES
A disturbance travelling through medium
transports energy from one location to another.

TYPES OF MECHANICAL WAVES

Transverse wave
Longitudinal waves

CompressionRarefaction

Speed of longitudinal wave

The speed of the wave in solid rod depends on the

mechanical properties of the rod.

Shear waves
Shear waves exist in solids and very viscous liquids. There is
no change in volume and density of materials.
Sound waves in solids are composed of compression waves
(just as in gases and liquids), but there is also a different
type of sound wave called ashear wave, which occurs only in
solids. These different types of waves in solids usually travel
at different speeds.

Properties of a
Sound Wave

Sound speed in air: 340m/s and in water 1480m/s

Sound Frequency

Infrasound range

Frequencies below

audible range

Audible range

Ultrasound range

Frequencies above
Frequency range of hearing
audible range.
Humans: 20-20 000Hz
Medical applications
Child: 15-40 000 Hz
2.5 40 MHz
Dog: 20-45 000 Hz
Whale: 1000- 123 000 Hz

Speed of sound

Thespeed of soundis the displacement travelled per unit time

by asound wavepropagating through anelasticmedium.
It depends on the mechanical properties of a medium.

The speed of sound varies from substance to another.

Stiffer materials have greater bulk modulus and therefore greater
speed of sound.

Sound travels faster inliquids and non-poroussolidsthan it does

in air. Its speed inwater(1,484 m/s), and in iron (5,120 m/s).
Speed depends on : compressibility - Density
C = B/

Question
Which of the following actions will increase
the speed of sound in air?
(a) decreasing the air temperature
(b) increasing the frequency of the sound
(c) increasing the air temperature
(d) increasing the amplitude of the sound
wave
(e) reducing the pressure of the air.

Problem
(a) If a solid bar of aluminum 1.00 m long is
struck at one end with a hammer, a pulse
propagates in the bar. Find the speed of sound in
the bar, which has a Youngs modulus of 7.0 X
1010 Pa and a density of 2.7 X 103 kg/m3.
(b) Calculate the speed of sound in ethyl alcohol,
which has a density of 806 kg/m3 and bulk
modulus of 1.0 X 109 Pa.
(c) Compute the speed of sound in air at 400C.

CHAPTER 2

The nature of sound

propagation

 When energy passes through a

medium resulting in a wave motion
with different types of waves:
Transverse
Longitudinal
Rotational
Torsional

Plane wave
In one-dimensional wave equation, in
x-direction:
The displacement after time t:
y (x , t)= A sin (t-kx)

Complex waves

The complex periodic waveform is a sum of

harmonically related waves.
The harmonic relation is that the frequency of
one harmonic is the twice that of the other.
Sound pressure waves are complex and
periodic

Sound pressure can be given by

the equation:
P(t) = An sin(nt + n) =
Cneit

This equation constitutes a form of Fourier

series. Fourier characterizes the complex
waves.

When
2
or
more
sound
waves
superimposed, they can combine: their
amplitude add algebraically at any point.

Standing waves
standing waves generate when a sound wave is superposed upon
another wave in the same frequency but in different direction .

At f1:

L=

At f2:

L=

At f3: L
=3/2
P1(t)+p2(t) = A1sin(2 ft-kx)+ A2sin(2 ft+kx)
P1(t)+p2(t) = 2A1 cos2 ft . sin kx

Standing waves

Standing waves can be set up in a stretched string by

connecting one end of the string to a stationary clamp and
connecting the other end to a vibrating object, such as the
end of a tuning fork, or by shaking the hand holding the string
up and down at a steady rate. Traveling waves then reflect
from the ends and move in both directions on the string. The
incident and reflected waves combine according to the
superposition principle. If the string vibrates at exactly the
right frequency, the wave appears to standhence its name,
standing wave. A node occurs where the two traveling
waves always have the same magnitude of displacement but
the opposite sign, so the net displacement is zero at that
point. There is no motion in the string at the nodes, but

 Since:

v = 1f1

Then:

f1 = v / 1

Where at f1:
=2L

L =
f1= v/2L

where F is the tension in the string and is its

mass per unit length.

Example (1)
{1} The high E string on a certain guitar measures
64.0 cm in length and has a fundamental frequency
of 329 Hz. When a guitarist presses down so that
the string is in contact with the first fret, the string
is shortened and the frequency becomes 349 Hz.
(a)How far is the first fret from the nut?

Example (2)
(a) Find the frequencies of the
fundamental, second, and third harmonics
of a steel wire 1.00 m long with a mass per
unit length of 2.00 x 103 kg/m and under a
tension of 80.0 N.
(b) Find the wavelengths of the sound
waves created by the vibrating wire for all
three modes. Assume the speed of sound
in air is 345 m/s.

Doppler effect

If a car, the frequency of the sound you hear is

higher as the vehicle approaches you and lower
as it moves away from you. This is one example
of the Doppler effect.

Example
A train moving at a speed of 40.0
m/s sounds its whistle, which has a
frequency of 5.00 x 102 Hz.
Determine the frequency heard by a
stationary observer as the train
approaches the observer. The
ambient temperature is 24.0C.

Root mean square sound pressure

= Pm/2

 The sound pressure is an oscillation of a pressure

above and below the atmospheric pressure.
It is detected by human ear as low as (20Pa).
The threshold of pain is 40 000 000 Pa.
It is convenient to use the decibel scale.

Sound Intensity
The sound power radiated by the source.
w

W or P = I. ds

I=
This is the inverse square law.

Power and Intensity

Intensity

It is analogous to the
brightness of light.
It is a power passing
through a unit area (W/m2).
The range of human
hearing :
10-12 1 watt/m-2

Power

It is analogous to the
power of light measured in
watts.

Decibel
B = log (I/I0)
1 B = 10 dB
The decibel is a logarithmic scale used to compare
two as power gain of 2 sources.

L = 10 Log (W2/W1) dB

The decibel is the difference between 2 power

levels.

Sound Power and

Intensity level
The sound power level is expressed
using the threshold of audibility W0 =
10-12 as a reference:

Lw = 10 log W/W0

Intensity & Intensity

Level
Dont confuse intensity with intensity level.
Intensity is a physical quantity with units of watts
per meter squared.
intensity level, or decibel level, is a convenient
mathematical transformation of intensity to a
logarithmic scale.

Sound pressure level

The intensity I is:

I = P2/(c)
The sound pressure level Lp is
equivalent to sound intensity :
Lp = 10 Log (I/I0) = 20 Log(p/p0)

Multiple sources
How much the sound wave increases
when 2 sound sources are used
simultaneously?
The sound power level would double:
L = 10 Log (2W/W0) =
3dB+10Log(W/W0)
So the increase is 3dB in the sound
power level.

Example
A noisy grinding machine in a factory produces a
sound intensity of 1.00 X 105 W/m2. Calculate:
(a) the decibel level of this machine.
(b) the new intensity level when another identical
machine is added to the factory.
(c) A certain number of additional such machines are
put into operation along side these two. When all the
machines are running at the same time the decibel
level is 77.0 dB. Find the sound intensity.

Energy
density
Kinetic energy and potential energy are involved
in sound propagation.
Interchange between these two energies occurs
from the compression and rarefaction and the
motion of the propagated medium particles.

Acoustic
impedance
When a pressure is applied to a molecule it will
exert pressure on the adjacent molecule.
The pressure propagates through medium and
depends on the particle speed and the properties
of the medium.
Z = p/u
Acoustic impedance depends on the elasticity of
the medium.