properties of sound waves

• Sound wave


  Longitudinal waves that cause particles to vibrate parallel to the direction of wave travel

  
• Medium


  A material through which a wave can be transmitted

  
• Mediums that sound can travel through

  Sound can travel through solids, liquids and gases

  
• Speed of sound


  Depends on the medium that the sound is travelling through

  
• Speed of sound in air

  Approx. 330 metres per second (m/s)

  
• Speed of sound in a vacuum

  Sound cannot travel through a vacuum because it needs particles to vibrate
• How the ear allows sounds to be heard

  Sound waves cause the ear drum and other parts to vibrate.

  passed through ossicles through semicircle canals to the cochlea

  turns vibrations into electrical signals which are sent to the brain

  
• Frequency of a sound wave

  Related to the pitch of a sound

  
• Relationship between frequency and pitch


  The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch

  
• Amplitude of a sound wave


  Related to the loudness of a sound

  
• Relationship between amplitude and loudness


  The higher the amplitude, the louder the sound

  
• Range of human hearing

  20 Hz to 20,000 Hz

  
• Ultrasound


  Sound waves that have a frequency higher than the upper limit for human hearing (above 20,000 Hz)

  
• Infrasound


  Sound waves that have a frequency lower than the lower limit for human hearing (below 20 Hz)

  
• why is human sound limited

  • due to the size and shape of the eardrum and structure of the ear which allows the capacity vibrate and transmit sound
• why do waves travel faster in solids

  • sound waves causes the particles in a solid to vibrate,these particles pass the transmission to other particles leading to sound being produce
• What happens when the sound waves change speeds up

  • when speeding up the wavlenegth increases as the frequency doesn't;t change so in solids the wavlenegth of the sound waves increases meanwhile in gases the wavelength decreases and the speed decreass
• what happens when a wave slows down

  • wave length decreases as it slows down due to not changing