Science Sound PDF

SOUND H ow do you come to know that a Sound plays an important role in our ‘period’ is over in your school? lives. It helps us to communicate with You come to know easily that one another. We hear a variety of sounds someone is at...

SOUND H ow do you come to know that a Sound plays an important role in our ‘period’ is over in your school? lives. It helps us to communicate with You come to know easily that one another. We hear a variety of sounds someone is at your door when he knocks in our surroundings. or you hear the sound of the doorbell. Make a list of sounds you hear in Most of the time you can make out that your surroundings. In the music room of your school you someone is approaching you by just hear the sounds produced by musical hearing the foot steps. instruments like flute, tabla , You might have played a game called harmonium, etc. (Fig 13.1). hide and seek. In this game a person is How is sound produced? How does it blind-folded and has to catch the travel from one place to another ? How remaining players. How is the blind- do we hear sound? Why are some sounds folded person able to guess which player louder than others? We shall discuss is closest to her? such questions in this chapter. Tabla Sitar Flute Harmonium Fig. 13.1 : Some musical instruments 2015-16 (11-11-2014) 13.1 Sound is Produced by a Activity 13.2 Vibrating Body Take a rubber band. Put it around Touch the school bell when not in use. the longer side of a pencil box What do you feel? Again touch it when (Fig. 13.3). Insert two pencils producing sound. Can you feel it between the box and the stretched vibrating? rubber. Now, pluck the rubber band somewhere in the middle. Do you Activity 13.1 hear any sound? Does the band vibrate? Take a metal plate (or a shallow pan). Hang it at a convenient place in such a way that it does not touch any wall. Now strike it with a stick (Fig.13.2). Touch the plate or pan gently with your finger. Do you feel the vibrations? Fig. 13.3 : Plucking the rubber band As you learnt in Class VII the to and fro or back and forth motion of an object is called vibration. When a tightly stretched band is plucked, it vibrates and produces sound. When it stops vibrating, it does not produce any sound. Activity 13.3 Take a metal dish. Pour water in it. Strike it at its edge with a spoon (Fig. 13.4). Do you hear a sound? Again strike the dish and then touch it. Can you feel the dish vibrating? Strike the dish again. Fig. 13.2 : Striking a pan Look at the surface of water. Do you Again strike the plate with the stick see any waves there? Now hold the and hold it tightly with your hands dish. What change do you observe immediately after striking. Do you on the surface of water? Can you still hear the sound? Touch the explain the change? Is there a hint plate after it stops producing sound. to connect sound with the Can you feel the vibrations now? vibrations of a body? 158 SCIENCE 2015-16 (11-11-2014)  Table 13.1 : Musical Instruments and their Vibrating Parts S. N o. Musical Vibrating Part Instrument Producing Sound 1. Veena Stretched string 2. Tabla Stretched membrane 3. Flute Air -column Fig. 13.4 : Vibrating dish produces waves 4. in water 5. We see that a vibrating object 6. produces sound. In some cases, the 7. vibrations are easily visible to us. But in most cases, their amplitude is so small Many of you might have seen the that we cannot see them. However, we can feel them. manjira (cymbals), the ghatam, and the noot (mudpots) and the kartal. These Activity 13.4 instruments are commonly used in many parts of our country. These Take a hollow coconut shell and musical instruments are simply beaten make a musical instrument ektara. or struck. Can you name a few other You can also make it with the help musical instruments of this type? of an earthen pot (Fig. 13.5). Play You too can make a musical this instrument and identify its instrument. vibrating part. Ghatam Fig. 13.5 : Ektara Make a list of familiar musical instruments and identify their vibrating Manjira parts. A few examples are given in Table 13.1. Complete the rest of the Table. Fig. 13.6 : A few more musical instruments S OUND 159 2015-16 (11-11-2014) Activity 13.5 Take 6-8 bowls or tumblers. Fill them with water up to different When we speak, does levels, increasing gradually from any part of our body one end to the other. Now take vibrate? a pencil and strike the bowls gently. Strike all of them in succession. You 13.2 Sound Produced by will hear pleasant sounds. This is your jaltrang (Fig.13.7). Humans Speak loudly for a while or sing a song, or buzz like a bee. Put your hand on your throat as shown in Fig. 13.8. Do you feel any vibrations? In humans, the sound is produced by the voice box or the larynx. Put your fingers on the throat and find a hard bump that seems to move when you swallow. This part of the body is known as the voice box. It is at the upper end of the windpipe. Two vocal cords, are stretched across the voice box or larynx in such a way that it leaves a narrow slit between them for the passage of air (Fig.13.8). Fig. 13.7 : Jaltrang When we pluck the string of an instrument, like the sitar, the sound that we hear is not only that of the string. The whole instrument is forced Fig.13.8 : Voice box in humans to vibrate, and it is the sound of the vibration of the instrument that we When the lungs force air through the hear. Similarly, when we strike the slit, the vocal cords vibrate, producing membrane of a mridangam, the sound sound. Muscles attached to the vocal that we hear is not only that of the cords can make the cords tight or loose. membrane but of the whole body of When the vocal cords are tight and thin, the instrument. the type or quality of voice is different 160 SCIENCE 2015-16 (11-11-2014) from that when they are loose and The vocal cords in men are about thick. Let us see how the vocal cords 20 mm long. In women these are about function. 5 mm shorter. Children have very short vocal cords. This is the reason Activity 13.6 why the voices of men, women and children are different. Take two rubber strips of the same size. Place these two pieces one 13.3 Sound Needs a Medium above the other and stretch them tight. Now blow air through the gap for Propagation between them [Fig. 13.9(a)]. As the When you call up your friend who is air blows through the stretched standing at a distance, your friend is rubber strips, a sound is produced. able to hear your voice. How does the You can also take a piece of paper sound travel to her? with a narrow slit and hold it between your fingers as shown in Activity 13.7 Fig. 13.9 (b). Now blow through the slit and listen to the sound. Our Take a metal or glass tumbler. Make sure that it is dry. Place a cell phone vocal cords produce sound in a similar manner. in it. (Remember that the cell phone must not be kept in water.) Ask your friend to give a ring on this cell phone from another cell phone. Listen to the ring carefully. Now, surround the rim of the tumbler with your hands (Fig. 13.10). Put your mouth on the (a) (b) Fig. 13.9 (a), (b) : Working of vocal cords Fig. 13.10 : Sound needs a medium to travel S OUND 161 2015-16 (11-11-2014)  opening between your hands. Place your ear gently on the water Indicate to your friend to give a ring surface (Fig. 13.11). (Be careful : the again. Listen to the ring while water should not enter in your ear.) sucking air from the tumbler. Can you hear the sound of the bell? Does the sound become fainter Does it indicate that sound can as you suck air? travel through liquids? Remove the tumbler from your mouth. Does the sound become loud again? Oh ! That is how whales Can you think of an explanation? Is and dolphins might be it possible that the decreasing amount communicating under of air in the tumbler had something to water. do with decreasing loudness of the ring? Let us find out if sound can travel Indeed, if you had been able to suck through solids also. all the air in the tumbler, the sound would stop completely. Actually, sound needs a Activity 13.9 medium to travel. When air has been removed completely from a vessel, it is said Take a metre scale or a long metal that there is a vacuum in the vessel. The rod and hold its one end to your sound cannot travel through a vacuum. ear. Ask your friend to gently Does sound travel in liquids? Let us scratch or tap at the other end of find out. the scale (Fig. 13.12). Activity 13.8 Take a bucket or a bathtub. Fill it with clean water. Take a small bell in one hand. Shake this bell inside the water to produce sound. Make sure that the bell does not touch the body of the bucket or the tub. Fig. 13.12 : Sound travelling through a metre scale Can you hear the sound of the scratching? Ask your friends around you if they were able to hear Fig. 13.11 : Sound travelling through water the same sound? 162 SCIENCE 2015-16 (11-11-2014)  You can also perform the above 13.4 We Hear Sound through activity by placing your ear at one end Our Ears of a long wooden or metallic table and asking your friend to gently scratch the The shape of the outer part of the ear is other end of the table (Fig. 13.13). like a funnel. When sound enters it, it travels down a canal at the end of which a thin membrane is stretched tightly. It is called the eardrum. It performs an important function. To understand what the eardrum does, let us build a tin can model of the eardrum. Activity 13.10 Take a plastic or tin can. Cut its ends. Stretch a piece of rubber Fig. 13.13 : Sound can travel through solids balloon across one end of the can We find that sound can travel and fasten it with a rubber band. through wood or metal. In fact, sound Put four or five grains of dry cereal can travel through any solid. You can on the stretched rubber. Now ask perform interesting activities to show your friend to speak “Hurrey, that sound can also travel through Hurrey” from the open end strings. Have you ever made a toy (Fig.13.15). Observe what happens telephone (Fig. 13.14). Can you say that to the grain. Why do the grains sound can travel through strings? jump up and down? Fig. 13.14 : A toy telephone We have learnt so far that vibrating objects produce sound and it is carried in all directions in a medium. How do we hear it? Fig. 13.15 : Plastic can eardrum S OUND 163 2015-16 (11-11-2014)  The eardrum is like a stretched You have already learnt in earlier classes rubber sheet. Sound vibrations make about the oscillatory motion and its the eardrum vibrate (Fig. 13.16). The time period. eardrum sends vibrations to the inner The number of oscillations per ear. From there, the signal goes to the second is called the frequency of brain. That is how we hear. oscillation. Frequency is expressed in hertz. Its symbol is Hz. A frequency of 1 Hz is one oscillation per second. If an object oscillates 20 times in one second, what would be its frequency? You can recognise many familiar sounds without seeing the objects producing them. How is it possible? These sounds must be different to enable you to recognise them. Have you ever thought what factors make them different? Amplitude and frequency are two important properties of any sound. Can we differentiate sounds on the basis of their amplitudes and frequencies? Loudness and Pitch Eardrum Activity 13.11 Take a metallic tumbler and a Fig. 13.16 : Human ear tablespoon. Strike the tablespoon gently at the brim of the tumbler. We must NEVER put a sharp, pointed or hard thing into our ear. It can damage the eardrum. The damaged eardrum can impair hearing. 13.5 Amplitude, Time Period and Frequency of a Vibration We have learnt that the to and fro motion of an object is known as vibration. This Fig. 13.17 : ThermoCole ball touching the motion is also called oscillatory motion. vibrating glass tumbler 164 SCIENCE 2015-16 (11-11-2014)  Compare the sound of a baby with Hear the sound produced. Now bang that of an adult. Is there any difference? the spoon on the tumbler and hear Even if two sounds are equally loud, the sound produced again. Is the they differ in some way. Let us see how. sound louder when the tumbler is struck hard? Now suspend a small thermocole I wonder why my voice ball touching the rim of the tumbler is different from that of (Fig. 13.17). Vibrate the tumbler by my teacher. striking it. See how far the ball is displaced. The displacement of the The frequency determines the ball is a measure of the amplitude shrillness or pitch of a sound. If the of vibration of the tumbler. frequency of vibration is higher we say Now, strike the tumbler gently that the sound is shrill and has a higher and then with some force. Compare pitch. If the frequency of vibration is the amplitudes of vibrations of the lower, we say that the sound has a lower tumbler in the two cases. In which pitch. For example, a drum vibrates with case is the amplitude larger? a low frequency. Therefore, it produces Loudness of sound is proportional to the square of the amplitude of the vibration producing the sound. For example, if the amplitude becomes twice, the loudness increases by a factor of 4. The loudness is expressed in a unit called decibel (dB). The following table gives some idea of the loudness of sound coming from various sources. Normal breathing 10 dB Soft whisper (at 5m) 30 dB Normal conversation 60 dB Busy traffic 70 dB Average factory 80 dB Above 80 dB the noise becomes physically painful. The loudness of sound depends on its amplitude. When the amplitude of vibration is large, the sound produced is loud. When the amplitude is small, Fig. 13.18 : Frequency determines the the sound produced is feeble. pitch of a sound S OUND 165 2015-16 (11-11-2014) a low-pitched sound. On the other 13.7 Noise and Music hand, a whistle has a high frequency We hear dif ferent types of sounds and therefore, produces a sound of around us. Is the sound always higher pitch (Fig. 13.18). A bird makes pleasing? Does a sound sometimes a high-pitched sound whereas a lion cause discomfort to you? Some sounds makes a low-pitched roar. However, the are pleasant to the ear, whereas some roar of a lion is very loud while the are not. sound of the bird is quite feeble. Suppose construction work is going Every day you hear the voices of on in your neighbourhood. Are the children and adults. Do you find any sounds coming from the construction difference in their voices? Can you say site pleasing ? Do you enjoy the sounds that the frequency of the voice of a child produced by horns of buses and trucks? is higher than that of an adult? Usually Such unpleasant sounds are called the voice of a woman has a higher noise. In a classroom, if all the students frequency and is shriller than that of a speak together, what would the sound man. produced be called? On the other hand you enjoy sounds 13.6 Audible and Inaudible from musical instruments. Musical Sounds sound is one which is pleasing to the ear. Sound produced by a harmonium We know that we need a vibrating body is a musical sound. The string of a sitar for the production of sound. Can we also gives out a musical sound. But, if hear the sound of all vibrating bodies? a musical sound becomes too loud, The fact is that sounds of frequencies would it remain melodious? less than about 20 vibrations per second (20 Hz) cannot be detected by the human 13.8 Noise Pollution ear. Such sounds are called inaudible. On the higher side, sounds of frequencies You already know about air pollution. higher than about 20,000 vibrations per Presence of unwanted gases and second (20 kHz) are also not audible to particles in air is called air pollution. the human ear. Thus, for human ear, Similarly, presence of excessive or the range of audible frequencies is unwanted sounds in the environment roughly from 20 to 20,000 Hz. is called noise pollution. Can you list some sources of noise pollution? Major Some animals can hear sounds of causes of noise pollution are sounds of frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz. vehicles, explosions including bursting Dogs have this ability. The police use of crackers, machines, loudspeakers etc. high frequency whistles which dogs can What sources in the home may lead to hear but humans cannot. noise? Television and transistor radio The ultrasound equipment, familiar at high volumes, some kitchen to us for investigating and tracking appliances, desert coolers, air many medical problems, works at conditioners, all contribute to noise frequencies higher than 20,000 Hz. pollution. 166 SCIENCE 2015-16 (11-11-2014) What are the Harms of Noise must be installed in air craft engines, Pollution? transport vehicles, industrial Do you know that presence of excessive machines and home appliances. noise in the surroundings may cause How can the noise pollution be many health related problems. Lack of controlled in a residential area? sleep, hypertension (high blood- All n o i s y o p e r a t i o n s m u s t b e pressure), anxiety and many more health conducted away from any residential disorders may be caused by noise area. Noise producing industries pollution. A person who is exposed to a should be set up away from such loud sound continuously may get areas. Use of automobile horns temporary or even permanent should be minimised. TV and music impairment of hearing. systems should be run at low volumes. Trees must be planted along Measures to Limit Noise Pollution the roads and around buildings to To control noise, we must control the cut down on the sounds reaching the sources of noise. How can this be residents, thus reducing the harmful achieved? For this, silencing devices effects of noise pollution. Hearing Impairment Total hearing impairment, which is rare, is usually from birth itself. Partial disability is generally the result of a disease, injury or age. Children with impaired hearing need special care. By learning sign language, such children can communicate effectively. Because speech develops as the direct result of hearing, a child with a hearing loss may have defective speech also. Technological devices for the hearing-impaired have made it possible for such persons to improve their quality of life. Society can do much to improve the living environment for the hearing-impaired and help them live normal lives. S OUND 167 2015-16 (11-11-2014) KEYWORDS WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT AMPLITUDE Ü Sound is produced by vibrating objects. AUDIBLE Ü In human beings, the vibration of the vocal cords produces sound. EARDRUM Ü Sound travels through a medium (gas, liquid or solid). It cannot travel in a vacuum. hertz (Hz) Ü The eardrum senses the vibrations of sound, LARYNX It sends the signals to the brain. This process is called hearing. LOUDNESS Ü The number of oscillations or vibrations per NOISE second is called the frequency of oscillation. Ü The frequency is expressed in hertz (Hz) OSCILLATION Ü Larger the amplitude of vibration, the louder PITCH is the sound. Ü Higher the frequency of vibration, the higher SHRILLNESS is the pitch, and shriller is the sound. TIME PERIOD Ü Unpleasant sounds are called noise. Ü Excessive or unwanted sounds lead to noise VIBRATION pollution. Noise pollution may pose health VOICE BOX problems for human beings. Ü Attempts should be made to minimise noise WIND PIPE pollution. Ü Plantation on the roadside and elsewhere can reduce noise pollution. Exercises 1. Choose the correct answer. Sound can travel through (a) gases only (b) solids only (c) liquids only (d) solids, liquids and gases. 2. Voice of which of the following is likely to have minimum frequency? (a) Baby girl (b) Baby boy (c) A man (d) A woman 168 SCIENCE 2015-16 (11-11-2014)  3. In the following statements, tick ‘T’ against those which are true, and ‘F’ EXERCISES against those which are false. (a) Sound cannot travel in vacuum. (T/F) (b) The number of oscillations per second of a vibrating object is called its time period. (T/F) (c) If the amplitude of vibration is large, sound is feeble. (T/F) (d) For human ears, the audible range is 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. (T/F) (e) The lower the frequency of vibration, the higher is the pitch. (T/F) (f) Unwanted or unpleasant sound is termed as music. (T/F) (g) Noise pollution may cause partial hearing impairment. (T/F) 4. Fill in the blanks with suitable words. (a) Time taken by an object to complete one oscillation is called __________. (b) Loudness is determined by the __________ of vibration. (c) The unit of frequency is __________ (d) Unwanted sound is called __________. (e) Shrillness of a sound is determined by the __________ of vibration. 5. A pendulum oscillates 40 times in 4 seconds. Find its time period and frequency. 6. The sound from a mosquito is produced when it vibrates its wings at an average rate of 500 vibrations per second. What is the time period of the vibration? 7. Identify the part which vibrates to produce sound in the following instruments. (a) Dholak (b) Sitar (c) Flute 8. What is the difference between noise and music? Can music become noise sometimes? 9. List sources of noise pollution in your surroundings. 10. Explain in what way noise pollution is harmful to human. 11. Your parents are going to buy a house. They have been offered one on the roadside and another three lanes away from the roadside. Which house would you suggest your parents should buy? Explain your answer. 12. Sketch larynx and explain its function in your own words. 13. Lightning and thunder take place in the sky at the same time and at the same distance from us. Lightning is seen earlier and thunder is heard later. Can you explain why? S OUND 169 2015-16 (11-11-2014)  Extended Learning — Activities and Projects 1. Visit the music room of your school. You may also visit musicians in your locality. Make a list of musical instruments. Note down the parts of these instruments that vibrate to produce sound. 2. If you play a musical instrument, bring it to the class and demonstrate how you play it. 3. Prepare a list of famous Indian musicians and the instruments they play. 4. Take a long thread. Place your hands over your ears and get some one to place this thread round your head and hands. Ask her to make the thread taut and hold its ends in one hand. Now ask her to draw her finger and thumb tightly along the thread (Fig. 13.19). Can you hear a rolling sound like that of a thunder? Now repeat the activity while another friend stands near both of you. Can he hear any sound? Fig. 13.19 5. Make two toy telephones. Use them as shown in Fig. 13.20. Make sure that the two strings are taut and touch each other. Let one of you speak. Can the remaining three persons hear? See how many more friends you can engage in this way. Explain your observations. Fig. 13.20 170 SCIENCE 2015-16 (11-11-2014)  6. Identify the sources of noise pollution in your locality. Discuss with your parents, friends and neighbours. Suggest how to control noise pollution. Prepare a brief report and present it in the class. You can read more on the related topics on the following websites: l www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/sound/soundtoc.html l health.howstuffworks.com/hearing.htm Did You Know? Golconda fort, near Hyderabad, is one of the most magnificient forts in India. It is famous for many engineering and architectural marvels. One of the marvels is the water supply system. But, perhaps, more astonishing is a dome near the entrance to the fort. A hand-clap at a particular point under the dome reverberates and can be heard at the highest point of the fort, about a kilometre away. This was devised as a warning system. If a guard saw a suspicious movement outside the fort, he clapped at the particular point under the dome, and the army inside the fort was alerted to the danger of the approaching enemy. Golconda fort S OUND 171 2015-16 (11-11-2014)