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Characteristics of Sound Waves Amplitude

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Last updated date: 23rd Apr 2024
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Introduction to Sound Waves

A sound is also said to be a form of energy, it is just like heat, electricity, or light. When we strike a bell, it makes a very loud noise or  ringing. Now if we see then instead of just listening to the bell,we  put our finger on the bell after we have struck it. We can feel it shaking? Now this shaking or the movement that is the to and fro motion of the body is called as Vibration.

The sound starts moving from a medium by contracting the alternately and expanding parts of the medium it is travelling. This expansion and compression create a minute pressure with a difference that we perceive as sound. 


What is Sound?

The energy of sound is a form of energy that is  just like heat, electricity or light. When we strike a bell, it makes us listen to a huge  ringing noise. Now instead of just listening to the bell, we can put our finger on the bell and after doing we have struck it. This is the shaking and movement that is  the motion which is to and fro the body is termed as Vibration. This is the sound which we can hear, we hear sounds in our everyday life. This whole thing of hearing and being heard is known as the sound.


Sound Waves Explained

Let’s discuss their characteristics of waves of sound like frequency, amplitude, wavelength and timbre as well.

Sound is said to be a form of energy which makes us hear it. The sound can travel in the form of waves. The waves of Sound can be described by five characteristics. Let us study all of this in an article.

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The sensation which is felt by our ears is called sound. It is an energy or a form of energy which makes us hear. We can hear several sounds which are around us in our everyday life.

We know the fact that the sound travels in the form of waves.

A wave is called a disturbance of a vibratory medium which carries energy from one point to another point without there being a direct contact between the two points.

We can even say that a wave is produced by which the vibrations of the particles of the medium through which it can pass.


Types of Waves

There are mainly two types of waves: that are the transverse and Longitudinal waves.

  • The Longitudinal Waves is said to be a wave in which the particles of the medium back vibrate and forth in the direction which is the same in which the wave is moving.  Medium can be liquid, solid or gases. sound waves therefore are longitudinal waves.

  • The transverse Waves is defined as  a wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate down and up at right angles to the direction in which the wave does movement. These are produced of waves that are only in liquid and solids but not in gases.

Sound is said to be a longitudinal wave which consists of refraction and compressions travelling through a medium.


Wavelength 

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The distance minimum in which a wave of sound repeats itself is called its wavelength. That is it is , the length of one wave complete. It is greek denoted by a letter λ that is lambda.  We know that in a wave of sound, the length combined of a compression and an refraction which is adjacent is called its wavelength. the distance which is between the centres of two compression consecutive or two consecutive rarefactions is equal to its wavelength.

Note that the distance which is between the centres of a compression and refraction of adjacent is equal to half of its wavelength that is  λ/2. The unit or the S.I unit for measuring wavelength is metre m.


Amplitude 

When a passage of wave  is through a medium,that is  the particles of the medium get temporarily displaced from their original position which is undisturbed. The displacement with maximum of the particles of the medium from their original undisturbed positions, when a pass of wave is through the medium is called wave amplitude. 

In fact that the amplitude is then used to describe the wave size. The S.I unit of which is measurement of amplitude is metre denoted by m though sometimes it is also measured in centimetres as well.  Do we know that the wave amplitude is the same as the amplitude of the body which is vibrating producing the wave?


Frequency of the Sound Wave 

The sound Frequency wave refers to the rate of the sound and vibration and the travelling through the air. This decides of the parameter is whether a sound is perceived as pitched high or low pitched. The frequency of sound is also known as Pitch. The frequency of the sound vibrating is calculated in cycles per second.

The SI Unit which is for Frequency and being hertz and its definition being as ‘1/T’ where T ros referred to the time period of the wave. The period of time is the time which is required for the wave to complete one cycle. The frequency of the Wavelength of a sound wave are related mathematically as:

Sound velocity = Frequency * Wavelength

The graph which is mentioned below can be used for understanding more about sound. The graph which is first represents a wave of sound from a drum while the second graph represents the wave of sound from a whistle. We already know  probably the difference which is in the sounds but have a look at the difference in their frequencies.

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There are two graphs which show the difference between waves of sound with low and high frequencies and their corresponding pitches.

FAQs on Characteristics of Sound Waves Amplitude

1. What are the amplitude characteristics?

The Amplitude which refers to the distance which is of the vertical and maximum displacement of the wave which is  from its position which is mean. The amplitude which is larger and the energy which is higher. In sound and  amplitude which refers to the magnitude of expression and compression experienced by the sounds a medium wave is travelling through.

2. How does the amplitude relate to the sound wave?

The wave of amplitude is related to the amount of energy it carries. A amplitude high wave carries a very large amount of energy with a low amplitude wave that carries a very small amount of energy.  As the sound amplitude and the wave which increases, the intensity of the sound increases.

3. Which are the sound characteristics which are determined by its amplitude and frequency?

There are two of the main characteristics of pitch of sound and loudness. Which in turn are determined by the amplitude and frequency of the wave respectively.

4. How does frequency and amplitude affect sound?

There are two properties of a vibration which is regular and the frequency and the  amplitude which affect the way it sounds. The Amplitude is the vibration of size and this determines how loud the sound is. Frequency is the vibration speed and this determines the sound's pitch.

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