ACOUSTICS

The study of sound

Sound is audible disturbance in a medium
produced by source.
This medium can be gas such as air, liquid
such as water, or a solid such as railroad
track.
 Pure tone : It is the tone that has only one
frequency [Tuning fork]
 It is result of the vibration which repeats itself
at a constant frequency.
 Frequency : Number of cycles per second.
 Elasticity : is the restoring force which causes
particles in an elastic medium to bounce back
when displaced.

 Inertia : is the tendency (for motion or lack of

motion) to continue.
Simple harmonic motion of the tuning fork
 The tuning fork when struck
move in a simple harmonic
motion. Where the initial
impact causes both prongs
of the tuning fork to move
away, then they return back
to their original position by
elasticity, they continue to
move through their resting
place due to inertia, and
then back once more to the
resting point by the
elasticity to continue one
cycle.
 The Swing Analogy: an in example of velocity gradation
SHM

 It shows an important property of SHM which is the

continuous manner in which the displayed object
changes velocity.
 Velocity : is the speed in a certain direction.
 Acceleration : is the rate of change in the velocity.
Waveform produced by graphing the SHM of a swing

 The forces of elasticity and

inertia are interplaying
simultaneously not alternating.
 The motion start to decrease
gradually due to loss of energy
from friction yet the frequency
remain constant.
 Damping : is the decrease in
the amplitude of displacement.
 Period: time taken for each
cycle.
 The graph of a SHM is the
same as that for sine wave.
 Particle movement in sound
 In the sound of a pure tone, the individual
air particles move in response to a pure tone
vibrator in SHM but in the direction of
wave propagation.
Pressure wave movement in sound
 How does the disturbance
propagate?
 Air molecules surrounding the
vibrator start moving before
particles away from the sound
source.
 The air molecules moving in a
SHM disturb adjacent
molecules and then the
disturbance is transmitted away
from the source.
 So, the disturbance is taking the
form of a pressure wave
radiating outward.
 Sound is a
longitudinal wave
in which particle
movement is in the
same direction of
the wave
propagation.
 Sound signals are commonly represented by a
waveform.
 A waveform is amplitude by time display.
 A cathode ray oscilloscope is an instrument
which can display sound as a waveform.
.Sound is audible disturbance in a medium produced by source

Essential constituents
of sound

Source Medium receiver

 Interference patterns

 As air is filled with many sounds, so the air molecule

can respond to many signals at the same time.
 Signals of the same frequency can interfere with one
another.
 Complex tones
 It is the tone that has more than one
frequency.
 It is represented by a complex waveform.
 Complex tones are two types
Periodic tones: the pattern of vibration, however
complex,
repeats itself.
Aperiodic tones: the vibration is random and has no
repeatable pattern.
 Periodic complex tones.
Their component frequencies are integral multiples of the
lowest frequency of pattern repetition, [the fundamental
frequency].
. They are displayed by a line spectrum[ amplitude spectrum]
. Any complex periodic spectrum can be mathematically
analyzed into its component frequencies[ J. B. Fourier]

Aperiodic complex tones.

They are composed of more than one frequency that are not
harmonically related.
 Pitch and frequency
 Frequency :is number of cycle per
second, measured in cps or hz.
 Pitch : is a sensation, it is the way in
which frequency changes are
preceived by listeners measured in
mels.
 Human ears detect frequencies
between[20-20,000hz]
 In speaking situation, our vocal folds
vibrate between [80-500hz]
 In complex periodic tones, the pitch
corresponds to the fundamental
frequency.
 In complex aperiodic tones, the pitch
influenced by the center of the
frequency band, or frequency with
highest amplitude.
 Decibel: a measure of relative intensity
 It is equal to 1/10 of a Bel.
 The decibel scale is a logarithmic scale.
 Why logarithmic ?
Human ears are sensitive to large intensity range[10 trillion].

Logarithmic scale is more nearly approximates the way human ears

judge loudness.
 Intensity and loudness

 Loudness is the
subjective sensation of
judged intensity.
 Phon: is a unit of equal
loudness.
 human auditory system is
designed to receive
middle frequencies[1000-
6000]with less intensity
needed for extremely low
and high frequencies.
 Wave length :It is the distance in space which
one cycle occupies.
 Wave length =velocity/frequency
 Short wave length are more directional, longer
wave length radiate more easily.