Question

What are the differences between infrasonic, audible and ultrasonic sound waves?

Answer 1

Hint: Frequency less than 20Hz is infrasonic, frequency greater than 20,000Hz is ultrasonic, 20Hz to 20,000Hz is audible range for the human ear.

Complete step by step solution:
Infrasonic sound wave:
An audible sound wave whose frequency is less than 20Hz is in the infrasonic range. The human ear can not hear this sound but elephants and whales can hear this.

Ultrasonic sound wave:
The frequency above 20,000Hz is in the ultrasonic range. The audible range of dogs, cats extends to ultrasound frequencies. They can hear very high frequencies that humans cannot.

Audible:
The human ear can easily listen to frequencies between 20Hz and 20,000Hz. Hence sound waves with frequencies ranging from 20Hz to 20,000Hz is known as audible sound. The human ear is sensitive to every minute pressure difference in the air if they are in the audible frequency range. It can detect pressure differences less than one billionth of atmospheric pressure.

Note: Waves which are produced from material and need material for their propagation are mechanical waves and sound is an example of such types of waves. When any object vibrates at a particular frequency which generally ranges between 20Hz to 20,000Hz is called sonic waves or sound. The other waves are inaudible because the sensory organs are not adapted to hear such kinds of sound waves. Whales and elephants can hear infrasonic sound waves. Dogs, cats can extend their hearing capacity to the ultrasonic range. The human ear is comfortable with an audible range of 20Hz to 20,000Hz.