Chapter 12- Sound

Section 12.1 Page: 162

1. How does the sound produced by a vibrating object in a medium reach your
ear?
Solution:
When an object vibrates, it necessitates the surrounding particles of the medium to
vibrate. The particles that are adjacent to vibrating particles are forced to vibrate.
Hence, the sound produced by a vibrating object in a medium is transferred from
particle to particle till it reaches your ear.
Section 12.2 Page: 163
1. Explain how sound is produced by your school bell.
Solution:
When the school bell is hit with a hammer, it moves forward and backwards,
producing compression and rarefaction due to vibrations. This is how sound is
produced by the school bell.
2. Why are sound waves called mechanical waves?
Solution:
Sound waves require a medium to propagate to interact with the particles present in
them. Therefore, sound waves are called mechanical waves.
3. Suppose you and your friend are on the moon. Will you be able to hear any
sound produced by your friend?
Solution:
No. Sound waves require a medium to propagate. Due to the absence of an
atmosphere on the moon and since sound cannot travel in a vacuum, I will not be
able to hear any sound produced by my friend.
Section 12.2.3 Page: 166
1. Which wave property determines (a) loudness, (b) pitch?
Solution:
(a) Amplitude – The loudness of the sound and its amplitude is directly related to
each other. The larger the amplitude, the louder the sound.
(b) Frequency – The pitch of the sound and its frequency is directly related to each
other. If the pitch is high, then the frequency of sound is also high.
2. Guess which sound has a higher pitch: guitar or car horn?
Solution:
The pitch of a sound is directly proportional to its frequency. Therefore, the guitar
has a higher pitch when compared to a car horn.
3. What are the wavelength, frequency, time period and amplitude of a sound
wave?
Solution:
(a) Wavelength – The distance travelled by a wave in one complete oscillation. The
SI unit of wavelength is metre (m).
(b) Frequency – Frequency is defined as the number of oscillations per second. The
SI unit of frequency is hertz (Hz).
(c) Amplitude – The amplitude of a wave is the distance between the mean position and the
extreme position of an ocillating particle.
(d) Time period – The time period is defined as the time required to produce one
complete cycle of a sound wave.

4. How are the wavelength and frequency of a sound wave related to its
speed?
Solution:
Wavelength, speed, and frequency are related in the following way:
Speed = Wavelength x Frequency
7. Distinguish between loudness and intensity of sound.
Solution:
The amount of sound energy passing through an area every second is called the
intensity of a sound wave. Loudness is defined by its amplitude.
Section 12.2.4 Page: 167
1. In which of the three media, air, water or iron, does sound travel the fastest
at a particular temperature?
Solution:
Sound travels faster in solids when compared to any other medium. Therefore, at a
particular temperature, sound travels fastest in iron and slowest in gas.
Section 12.3.2 Page: 168
1. Why are the ceilings of concert halls curved?
Solution:
The ceilings of concert halls are curved to spread sound uniformly in all directions
after reflecting from the walls.
Section 12.4 Page: 170
1. What is the audible range of the average human ear?
Solution:
20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Any sound less than 20 Hz or greater than 20,000 Hz frequency
is not audible to human ears.
2. What is the range of frequencies associated with (a) Infrasound? (b)
Ultrasound?
Solution:
(a) 20 Hz
(b) 20,000 Hz
Exercise Questions Page: 174
1. What is sound, and how is it produced?
Solution:
Sound is produced due to vibrations. When a body vibrates, it forces the adjacent
particles of the medium to vibrate. This results in a disturbance in the medium, which
travels as waves and reaches the ear. Hence, the sound is produced.
2. Describe, with the help of a diagram, how compressions and rarefactions
are produced in the air near a source of the sound.
Solution:
When the school bell is hit with a hammer, it moves forward and backwards,
producing compression and rarefaction due to vibrations. When it moves forward, it
creates high pressure in its surrounding area. This high-pressure region is known as
compression. When it moves backwards, it creates a low-pressure region in its
surrounding. This region is called rarefaction.

3. Cite an experiment to show that sound needs a material medium for its
propagation.
Solution:
Take an electric bell and hang it inside an empty bell jar which is fitted with a vacuum
pump (as shown in the figure below).

Initially, one can hear the sound of the ringing bell. Now, pump out some air from the
bell jar using the vacuum pump. You will realise that the sound of the ringing bell
decreases. If you keep on pumping the air out of the bell jar, then the glass jar will be
devoid of any air after some time. Now, try to ring the bell. No sound is heard, but
you can see the bell prong is still vibrating. When there is no air present in the bell
jar, a vacuum is produced. Sound cannot travel through a vacuum. Therefore, this
experiment shows that sound needs a material medium for its propagation.
4. Why is a sound wave called a longitudinal wave?
Solution:
The vibration of the medium that travels parallel to the direction of the wave or along
in the direction of the wave is called a longitudinal wave. The direction of particles of
the medium vibrates parallel to the direction of the propagation of disturbance.
Therefore, a sound wave is called a longitudinal wave.
5. Which characteristics of the sound help you to identify your friend by his
voice while sitting with others in a dark room?
Solution:
Quality of sound is a characteristic that helps us identify the voice of a particular
person. Two people may have the same pitch and loudness, but their qualities will be
different.
6. Flash and thunder are produced simultaneously. But thunder is heard a few
seconds after the flash is seen. Why?
Solution:
The speed of sound is 344 m/s, whereas the speed of light is 3 × 108 m/s. The speed
of light is less when compared to that of light. Due to this reason, thunder takes more
time to reach the Earth as compared to light speed, which is faster. Hence, lightning
is seen before whenever we hear thunder.
12. Give two practical applications of the reflection of sound waves.
Solution:
(i) Reflection of sound is used to measure the speed and distance of underwater
objects. This method is called SONAR.
(ii) Working of a stethoscope – The sound of a patient’s heartbeat reaches the
doctor’s ear through multiple reflections of sound.
15. What is reverberation? How can it be reduced?
Solution:
The continuous multiple reflections of sound in a big enclosed space are
reverberation. It can be reduced by covering walls and ceilings of enclosed spaces
with the help of sound-absorbing materials, such as loose woollens and fibre boards.
16. What is the loudness of sound? What factors does it depend on?
Solution:
Loud sounds have high energy. Loudness directly depends on the amplitude of
vibrations. It is proportional to the square of the amplitude of vibrations of sound.
17. Explain how bats use ultrasound to catch prey.
Solution:
Bats have the ability to produce high-pitched ultrasonic squeaks. These squeaks get
reflected by objects, like prey, and return to their ears. This helps a bat to know how
far its prey is.
18. How is ultrasound used for cleaning?
Solution:

Objects that need to be cleansed are put in a cleaning solution, and ultrasonic sound
waves are passed through the solution. The high frequency of ultrasound waves
helps in detaching the dirt from the objects. In this way, ultrasound is used for
cleaning purposes.
19. Write full form of acronym SONAR. Explain how the method of echo- ranging is used to
determine the depth of sea.
Answer:
Sound Navigation And Ranging: A transmitter producing ultrasonic waves is fitted at the
bottom of a ship or a boat. The ultrasound waves emitted by the transmitter go to the bottom
of the sea and get reflected from the bottom. These are received back by a detector also
fitted at the bottom. Knowing the time elapsing between sending and receiving back of the
ultrasonic waves and the speed of these waves in water, the depth of sea can be calculated.
21. Explain how defects in a metal block can be detected using ultrasound.
Solution:
Defective metal blocks will not allow ultrasound to pass through them and reflect it
back. This technique is used in detecting defects in metal blocks. Make a set-up as
shown in the figure, with ultrasound being passed through one end and detectors
placed on the other end of a metal block. Since the defective part of the metal block
does not allow ultrasound to pass through it, it will not be detected by the detector. In
this way, defects in metal blocks can be detected with the help of ultrasound.

22. Explain how the human ear works.

Solution:
Various sounds produced by particles in our surroundings are collected by pinna that
transfers these sounds to the eardrum through the ear canal. The eardrum begins to
vibrate back and forth briskly as soon as the sound waves fall on it. The vibrating
eardrum initiates the small bone hammer to vibrate. These vibrations are passed
from the hammer to the third bone stirrup via the second bone anvil. The stirrup
strikes the membrane of the oval window to pass its vibration to the cochlea. The
liquid in the cochlea produces electrical impulses in the nerve cells. These electrical
impulses are carried to the brain by the auditory nerve. They are interpreted by the
brain as sound, and hence, we get a sensation of hearing.

Question 1.
What does wave transfer—matter or energy?
Answer:
Energy.

Question 2.
What are mechanical waves?
Answer:
Waves that are characterised by the motion of particles in a medium are called
mechanical waves. Mechanical waves require material medium for their propagation

Question 3.
Where is the density of air higher—at compressions or at rarefactions?
Answer:
At compressions.

Question 4.
What is one complete oscillation?
Answer:
The change in density from one maximum value to the minimum value and again to
the maximum value makes one complete oscillation.
Question 5.
On what factor does the pitch of a sound depend?
Answer:
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency of vibrations. Actually, the pitch of a
sound is directly proportional to its frequency.

Question 7.
If any explosion takes place at the bottom of a lake, what type of shock waves in
water will take place?

Question 10.

Name two animals that communicate using infrasound.

Answer:
Rhinoceroses and whales communicate using infrasound.
Question 11.
Name the sound waves used by bats while flying in the dark.
Answer:
Bats use ultrasonic waves while flying in the dark.

Answer:
Longitudinal waves.

Question 8.
What is intensity of sound?
Answer:
The amount of sound energy passing through unit area each second is called the
intensity of sound.

Question 10.
Name two animals that communicate using infrasound.
Answer:
Rhinoceroses and whales communicate using infrasound.

Question 12.
Name the sound waves used by bats while flying in the dark.
Answer:
Bats use ultrasonic waves while flying in the dark.

Question 12.
Earthquake produces which kind of sound before the main shock wave begins?
Answer:
Infrasound.

Question 13.
Before playing the orchestra in a musical concert, a sitarist tries to adjust the tension
and pluck the string suitably. By doing so, what is he adjusting?
Answer:
He is adjusting frequency of the sitar string with the frequency of the other musical
instruments.

Question 14.
Name the characteristic which helps us to distinguish between a man’s voice and a
woman’s voice, even without seeing them.
Answer:
Quality or timbre.

Question 1.
When we put our ear to a railway track, we can hear the sound of an approaching
train even when the train is far off but its sound cannot be heard through air. Why?
Answer:
Sound travels about 15 times faster in iron (or steel) than in air. So, sound travels
much faster through the railway track made of steel than through air. That is why, we
can hear the sound of an approaching train even when the train is far off but its
sound cannot be heard through air.
Question 1.
Write the difference between transverse waves and longitudinal waves.
Answer:

Transverse Waves Longitudinal Waves

1. The particles of the medium oscillates up 1. The particles of the medium move in the

and down about their mean position. parallel to the direction of propagation of the

disturbance.
2. They propagate as compressions and
2. They propagate as crests and troughs.
rarefactions.

3. The propagation of waves is possible in 3. The propagation of these waves is

solid or surface of liquid but not in gases. possible in solids, liquids and gases.

Example: Light wave Example: Sound wave