In our previous blogs of the series, we talked about ‘Works Energy and Power’. Today we are going to discuss ‘Production and propagation of sound’.
Production of Sound
We are very much familiar with the term sound in our daily life. We have already heard different kinds of sound from various sources and developed our senses to recognize and differentiate them.
In physics, the term sound stands for ‘a form of vibration’. The relation between sound and vibration can be simplified after analyzing the sound very closely. It can be observed that every source of sound is a pure source of vibration. Whenever that source produces vibration, in a specific frequency range, we can sense that vibration with our ears. If that vibrational frequency is more or less than that frequency range, we couldn’t sense that with our ear, but we can absolutely sense them with our skin.
Everything that can produce vibration is a source of sound. Because sound is nothing but a form of vibration of a specific frequency.
Propagation of sound
Vibration is a separate topic. We will discuss about it in detail. Today let’s just believe that vibration need a medium to travel. As we discussed, sound is a form of vibration. It also requires a medium to travel. That is, sound cannot travel in vacuum. Sound can travel in solid, liquid and gas. Sound can travel in any of these medium. The primary difference between all three medium is speed of sound. Speed of sound differ with respect to the density of medium. Denser the medium will be, faster the sound will travel. As we know from the beginning of the series, density of gas less than liquid. Hence sound will travel faster in liquid than gas. Density of liquid is less than density of solid. That’s why, sound will travel faster in solid than liquid. So, this discussion concludes that speed of sound is lowest in air, higher in water and highest in metal.
That’s enough for now. The mechanics behind vibrational transmittance through different medium is saved for advanced blogs. We will discuss them in detail. Until then, experiment the speed of sound on table, air and inside water and tell us your experience.
