Introduction Produced sound from speakers has become so common and integrated in our daily lives it is often taken for granted. Living with inventions such as televisions, phones and radios, chances are you rarely ever have days with nothing but natural sounds. Yet, few people know the physics involved in the technology that allows us to listen to music in our living room although the band is miles away. This article will investigate and explain the physics and mechanism behind loudspeakers – both electromagnetic and electrostatic. The Physics of Sound To understand how loudspeakers work it is necessary to know some basic sound physics. Sound is essentially a wave produced by a vibrating source. This compression and rarefaction of matter will transfer to the surrounding particles, for instance air molecules. Rhythmic variations in air pressure are therefore created which are detected by the ear and perceived as sound. The frequency of a sound wave is the number of these oscillations that passes through a given point each second. It is the compression of the medium particles that actually constitute a sound wave, and which classifies it as longitudinal. As opposed to transverse waves (eg. light waves), in which case the particles move perpendicular to the direction of the wave movement, the medium particles are moving in the same or opposite direction as the wave (Russell, D. A., 1998). Compression and rarefaction of particles forming sound waves. Retrieved 23/02/14 from Popular Science Monthly Volume 13 What distinguishes sound waves from most other waves is that humans easily can perceive the frequency and amplitude of the wave. The frequency governs the pitch of the note produced, while the amplitude relates to the sound le... ... middle of paper ... ...a wide movement radius and will hence have shorter and more frequent excursions, it is not very effective at generating low-frequency waves. A woofer is therefore often necessary to cover the whole sound spectre. Furthermore, the speakers need to be plugged directly into a power supply, making room placement more difficult (HowStuffWorks.com, 2001). There are also other advantages and disadvantages with both types of loudspeakers, but they tend to be too technical and require too much expertise to be explained in short here. Without regard to price, it can be assumed that the electrostatic speakers paired up with a woofer would be the first choice for audio quality oriented consumers. The light and widespread diaphragm provides clearer and more precise sound reproduction with a greater surround effect than what one would get from standard electromagnetic speakers.
The human auditory system is incredibly accurate in identifying signal content, location, and meaning through discrete neurological processes. The accuracy of these processes begins at the external, anatomical portions of the auditory pathway: the pinna and ear canal. The pinna serves to collect sound from the environment and generate direction-dependent cues through spectral transformations (Hofman, et al, 1998; Raykar, et al, 2005). Sounds that are funneled into the ear canal contain range of frequencies that are amplified and attenuated. This interaction of complex sound waves, based on the unique shape of an individual’s pinna, results in a transfer function used for localization in the vertical plane (Hofman, et al, 1998, p. 417). There is evidence that the spectral notches and peaks formed when sound interacts with the pinna are a key component to localization of sound in the vertical plane (Raykar, et al, 2005, p. 364). The spectral changes caused by reflections of sound waves on the unique curves of the pinna are referred to as “spectral patterning”. This occurs primarily in frequencies above 6 kHz, as the wavelength of the sound is short enough for it to interact with the pinna. This indicates that sound localization is influenced most by high-frequencies (Moore, 2007, p. 186).
Sound is created by vibrations that travel in waves, with the longer, more spread out waves being lower pitched sound, and shorter, closer together waves being higher pitched sound. Sound waves travel through the air or water (or whatever is in their way) to reach your ear and vibrate your eardrum, which in turn lets you hear.Sound can not be heard in space because there is no air for it to travel on. Volume is measured in decibels, with a pin drop at about 15 decibels, a 12-gauge shotgun being at about 160 decibels, and a normal conversation at about 65 decibels.
Unless you travel into the vacuum of space, sound is all around you every day.. You hear sounds; you don't touch them. But as the vibrations that sound creates in other objects. The idea that something so intangible can lift objects can seem unbelievable, but it's a real phenomenon.
Sound is a wave, which can change in pitch according to changing air pressure. It is produced by the vibrations of objects. Waves can be measured by speed (v), frequency (f), wavelength (λ), and period. The frequency of a wave describes how many cycles of a wave occur per unit time. A sound with a high frequency has more wavelengths in a set amount of time than a sound with a low frequency. High frequencies have smaller wavelengths, and low frequencies have larger wavelengths. The higher frequency, the higher the perceived pitch. The wavelength, frequency, and speed are all related by the equation: v = fλ. They can also be used in the equation: f = v/λ.
Sound is a type of longitudinal wave that originates as the vibration of a medium (such as a person’s vocal cords or a guitar string) and travels through gases, liquids, and elastic solids as variations of pressure and density. The loudness of a sound perceived by the ear depends on the amplitude of the sound wave and is measured in decibel, while its pitch depends on it frequency measured in hertz, (Shipman-Wilson-Higgins, 2013).
Ultrasound is sound waves that have a frequency above human audible. (Ultrasound Physics and Instrument 111). With a shorter wavelength than audible sound, these waves can be directed into a narrow beam that is used in imaging soft tissues. As with audible sound waves, ultrasound waves must have a medium in which to travel and are subject to interference. In addition, much like light rays, they can be reflected, refracted, and focused.
Objects produce sound when they vibrate in matter, these could be gas such as air, solid like earth or even liquid such as water. Usually we hear and pick up sounds travelling through the air in our atmosphere. If something moves in the atmosphere it will move the air particles around the particle, carrying the vibration through the air.
Sound travels in the shape of a wave. There are two types of sound waves, longitudinal and transverse [9]. Longitudinal waves travel parallel to the source of the wave and transverse waves travel perpendicular to the source of the wave. Sound is produced from vibrations through a medium, and travels in the form of longitudinal waves [10]. Pitch is the general perception of the highness or lowness of a sound which depends on the frequency complexity, and loudness of the sound [11]; on the other hand, in music pitch related to notes that are being played. The vibrations caused from a disturbance such as a vibrating string create areas of compression and rarefaction of the molecules in the medium that the vibrations are traveling through. Sound is only produced when these vibrations are traveling through a medium. An observer is able to hear sounds because these areas of compression and rarefaction are picked up by the observer's ears, and translated to the brain from longitudinal sound waves. Figure 5 [12] (middle-left) shows the areas of compression and rarefaction in the air in a hollow tube caused by the vibrations from a tuning fork. Compressions are areas of with a high density of molecules; whilst, rarefactions are areas with a low density of
Sounds are produced by the vibrations of material objects, and travel as a result of
... Physics." .::. The Pysics of Electric Guitars :: Physics. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2014. .
This lab will investigate the properties of mechanical waves such as a longitudinal wave, focusing on the question: Does a change in the frequency of a wave result in a significant and convincing change in the speed of the wave?
Physics is all around us, and yet we always overlook it. We see, hear or feel something happen but never stop to question why. Physics will tell us why. Music plays a part in everyone's lives. So much so that it is often overlooked and the technicalities of it are unappreciated. Sure there are times when we listen carefully to the music behind the songs we hear, we may focus on the rhythm or the harmonies, but we never think of what it took to make the sounds that we are hearing. In this paper, I will explain the physics musical instruments. I will describe and define sound in psychics terms and then describe how different instruments create their unique sounds.
Each of the senses receives a different stimulus that allows us to perceive that specific type of information. For hearing the stimulus is sound waves. These are waves of pressure that are conducted through a medium (Martini, 2009). Often this medium is air but it can also be water or a solid object. Each wave consists of a region where the air molecules are gathered together and an opposite region where they are farther apart (Martini, 2009). A wavelength is the distance between either two wave peaks or two wave troughs. The number of waves that pass through a fixed reference point in a given time is the frequency. High pitch sounds have a high frequency where as low pitch sounds have a low frequency (Myers, 2010). The amplitude is the amount of energy, or intensity, in a sound wave. The more energy that a sound wave has, the louder it seems. For us to perceive any of the sound waves around us, they must pass through the external, middle, and inner ea...
Sound is actually a pressure wave; it is produced by a mechanical disturbance in the medium (in most cases- air) in which it is openly adjacent to. After the sound is first produced, it continues to disturb adjacent air particles and causes them to vibrate and hence the vibrations travel to the following adjacent air particles and so on like a chain reaction; however as the sound vibrations travel through the air particles, the vibrations and the loudness of the sound grows weaker and hence after a certain distance- the sound seizes to travel any further. Out of the three states of matter, sound is further travelled through gas/air as the particles are more spaced out so the vibrations are greater and freer to move around, hence the sound travels further and faster. Through liquid- sound vibrations are more delayed as the particles feel thicker to travel through and they are closer together hence the vibrations are not so great and the sound does not travel as far neither does it travel as fast. Solids are the hardest for sound to travel through as the disturbance of sound vibrations through the particles are more difficult to travel as the particles of the object/s are more slower/still so the sound is not able to vibrate/travel to its full potential- this is why sound does not travel to far through walls etc. Sound from solids is best exposed by two solids colliding together so that the particles get a stronger vibration and collide heavier with each other; then the stronger vibration travels further through the additional particles of the object and through other particles of matter. The sound waves are produced by the vibration of an object of which causes the air particles surrounding the object to vibrate- they...
Speaking of how the human ear receives music, sound is produced by vibrations that transmits energy into sound waves, a form of energy in which human ears can respond to and hear. Specifically, there are two different types of sound waves. The more common of the two are the transversal waves, which ...