Sound Produced by Vibration of Objects

A sound is a form of energy that can be produced by vibrating any object. For instance, if two vocal cords present in the human body or any other organism may get vibrated with the help of airflow, then a sound will come out. The sound can be produced by using three mechanisms. Namely - respiration, phonation, and articulation. All these are concerning human beings. This may vary from organism to organism, but the final way to produce sound is by only using the vibration of an object. Now we are going to learn what are the various vibrating objects to produce sound.

Sound is Produced by Vibration 

Yes, Vibrating bodies produce sound. Let see how is a sound produced? Whenever the vibrating body moves in one direction, the aid undergoes compression, which is moving in the opposite direction. Whereas if the object moves in the opposite direction, it gets released freely, which leads to expansion. These expansion and rear fractions lead to the formation of longitudinal waves. For one longitudinal wave, it requires one compression and one expansion. Hence the air molecules more back and forth, the formation of more refractions and expansions take place. It helps in the formation of several longitudinal waves.

Intensity and Pitch

Intensity and pitch are two different factors that play a predominant role in producing sound. 

If the pitch of the vibrating body is high, the sound can be produced with high frequency. Whereas if the pitch is low, the frequency of sound is also low. These both are directly proportional to each other.

The next one is intensity. It is defined as the amount of energy released from the object in a unit area's unit time. It can be calculated in the SI system, watts per square meter. The intensity also has an impact on the loudness of the sound. It is also directly proportional but slightly varies from the picture. If the intensity is more, the loudness will be high—similarly, vice versa.

The intensity can be measured in decibels. There is a logarithmic relation between the intensity and loudness of the sound. The following equation can represent it and is denoted by β, a Greek letter.

β = 10 log I/ I0

Where,

β  is the intensity in decibels, 

I is the sound intensity, and 

I0 is the intensity of the threshold of hearing.

Examples of Sound Produced by Vibrations 

Let us consider an example that gives a clear idea about how sound is produced by vibrations in physics.

One of the simple and best examples of sound produced with vibrating objects is the guitar.  If we observe the guitar, some parallel strings will be there. Here the air is the medium. It helps to produce sound when we create vibration among the strings. 

[Image will be Uploaded Soon]

Another well-known example is the tuning fork. It also explains how sound is produced with vibrating objects. The tuning fork is like the handle with the two tunes. Suppose we hit the tuning fork with the rubber hammer. In that case, it creates vibration among the two tines as the air molecules surrounded by the tuning fork get disturbed and undergo compression or expansion according to the tines' reaction. If we hit Victor the rubber hammer multiple times, they keep on undergoing either compression or expansion, which results in the formation of multiple waves. These waves lead to the propagation of sound. The append soundwaves can be transmitted with the help of pressure waves available in the object itself. In this way, the sound can be produced by the vibrating objects as far as we can apply some force on the medium or object.

[Image will be Uploaded Soon]

Conclusion

Hence we came to know the vibration of objects can produce that sound. Whether it is a human being or a substance or an object, A vibration is the only major source that can produce sound with different frequencies. It can be influenced by objects, targeting surface, medium, etc. We have several laws and a formula to calculate the sound's wavelength, frequency, intensity, etc. It has different properties like reflection, refraction, etc., based on the object. Hence the sound is a vast topic that everyone should understand adequately.