Question 1. Explain how sound is produced by your school bell.

Answer: Air is the commonest material through which sound propagates. When school bell is rung, it
pushes the molecules of the air in front of it. This in turn compresses the air, thus creating a region of
high pressure and high density called compression. This compression in the air travels forward. When
the bell moves back, it creates a region of low pressure in the air, commonly called rarefaction. This
region has low pressure, low density, and more volume. As the bell continues to vibrate, the regions
Of compression in the air alternate with the regions of rarefaction. These regions alternate at the
same place. The energy of vibrating bell travels outward. This energy which reaches the ears, makes
the eardrums to vibrate and thus we hear sound.

Question 2. Why are sound waves called mechanical waves ?

Answer: Some mechanical energy is required to make an object vibrate. Sound energy cannot be
produced on its own. The mechanical energy Of vibrating object travels through a medium and finally
reaches the ear. Therefore, the sound waves are called mechanical waves.

Question 3. Suppose you and your friend are on the moon. Will you be able to hear any-sound
produced by your friend ?
Answer: No, I will not be able to hear sound, because moon has no atmosphere. Therefore, no sound
waves can travel to your ears and, therefore, no sound is heard.

Class 9 Science NCERT Textbook – Page -I

Question 1. Which wave property determines (a) loudness, (b) Pitch ?
Answer: (a) The amplitude of the wave determines the loudness; more the amplitude of a wave,
more is the loudness produced.
(b) The pitch is determined by the frequency of the wave. Higher the frequency of a wave more is its
pitch and shriller is the sound.

Question 2. Guess which sound has a higher pitch; guitar or car horn ?
Answer: Car horn has a higher pitch than a guitar, because sound produced by the former is shriller
than the latter.

NCERT TextBook Class 9 Science Page 166 -II

Question 1. What are wavelength, frequency, time period and amplitude of a sound wave ?
Answer: Frequency: The number of compressions or rarefactions taken together passing through a
point in one second is called frequency.
Time Period: It is the time taken by two consecutive compressions or rarefactions to cross a point.
Amplitude: It is the magnitude of maximum displacement of a vibrating particle about its mean
position.
Question 2. How are the wavelength and frequency of a sound wave related to its speed ?
Answer: Speed of sound Frequency x Wavelength

Question 3. Calculate the wavelength of a sound wave whose frequency is 220 Hz and speed is 440
m s-1 in a given medium.
Answer: Frequency = 220 Hz
Speed of sound = 440 m s-1
We know speed of sound Frequency x Wavelength = 220 x Wavelength
Wavelength = Vϑ = 440220 = 2m

Question 4. A person is listening to a tone of 500 Hz sitting at a distance of 450 m from the source
Of the sound. What is the time interval between successive compressions from the source ?

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Answer:

Question 5. Distinguish between loudness and intensity of sound.

Answer: The loudness depends on energy per unit area of the wave and on the response of the ear
but intensity depends only on the energy per unit area of the wave and is independent of the
response of the ear.

Question 6. In which of the three media, air, water or iron, does sound travel the fastest at a
particular temperature ?
Answer: Sound travels fastest in iron as compared to water and air.
An echo is returned in 3 s. mat is the distance of the reflecting surface from the source, given the
speed of sound is 342 m s-1

Question 7. Why are the ceilings of concert halls curved ?

Answer: The ceilings of concert halls are curved because sound after reflection from it reaches all the
corners of the hall and is audible to each person in the hall.
Question.8.What is the audible range of the average human ear ?
Answer. An average human ear can hear sound waves between frequencies 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.

Question 9. What is the range of frequencies associated with (a) Infra sound ? (b) Ultrasound ?
Answer: (a) Infra sound : Sound waves between the Frequencies 1 and 20 Hz.
(b) Ultrasound : Sound waves of the frequencies above 20,000 Hz.

Extra Questions for CBSE Class 9 Science Chapter 12 Sound

Question 1. What is sound and how is it produced ?

Answer: Sound is mechanical energy which produces a sensation of hearing. When an Object is set
into vibrations, sound is produced.

Question 3. Cite an experiment to show that sound needs a material medium for its propagation.
Answer: Take an electric circuit which consists of a cell, a switch and an electric bell arranged inside a
bell jar, which stands on the platform of an evacuating pump. The switch of the bell is pressed to
close the electric circuit. When there is air within the bell jar, sound is heard. Air is now pumped out
of the bell jar. When the air is completely removed from the bell jar, no sound is heard as it is obvious
from fig. because the medium of air which has to carry energy from the bell to the bell jar is
removed. It shows that sound needs material medium for its propagation.

Question 4. Why is sound wave called a longitudinal wave ?

Answer:Sound wave is called longitudinal wave because the particles of the medium vibrate in the
direction of the propagation of wave.

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Question 5. Which characteristic of the sound helps you to identify your friend by his voice while
sitting with others in a darkroom ?
Answer: The characteristic of sound is quality or timbre.

Question 6. Flash and thunder are produced simultaneously. But thunder is heard a few seconds
after the flash is seen, why ?
Answer: Speed of sound is 330 m/sec in air medium at 0°C. Whereas speed of light is 3 x 108m/sec.
When we compare the speed of light with that of speed of sound, speed of light is greater than that
of speed of sound. Therefore thunder is heard a few seconds after the flash is seen.

Question 7. A person has a hearing range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. What are the typical wavelengths
of sound waves in air corresponding to these two frequencies? Take the speed of sound in air as
344 ms-1.
Answer:

Question 8. Two children are a± opposite ends of an aluminium rod. One strikes the end of the rod
with a stone. Find the ratio of times taken by the sound wave in air and in aluminium to reach the
second child.

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Answer:

Question 9. The frequency of a sources/ sound is 100 Hz. How many times does it vibrate in a
minute?
Answer:

Question 10. Does sound follow the same laws of reflection as light does? Explain.
Answer: Yes. Sound follows the same laws of reflection as that of light because,
(i) Angle of incidence of sound is always equal to that of angle of reflection of sound waves.
(ii) The direction in which sound is incident, the direction in which it is reflected and normal all lie in
the same plane.

Question 11. When a sound is reflected from a distant object, an echo is produced. Let the distance
between the reflecting surface and the source of sound production remains the same. Do you hear
echo sound on a hotter day?
Answer:

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Time is inversely proportional to the speed. As the temperature increases, the speed increases. Thus
on a hot day due to high temperature the speed of sound increases. Hence the time will decrease
and we can hear the echo sooner.
Question 12. Give two practical applications of reflection of sound waves.
Answer: Reflection of sound is used in megaphones, horns and musical instruments such as
trumpets and shehna. It is used in stethoscope for hearing patient’s heartbeat. Ceilings of the
concert halls are curved, so that sound after reflection reaches all comers of the hall. (Any two
practical applications can be written).

Question 13. A stone dropped from the top of a tower 500 m high into a pond of water at the base
of the tower. When is the splash heard at the top? Giving, g = 10 ms-2 and speed of sound = 340 m
s-1.
Answer:

Question 14. A sound wave travels at a speed of 339 ms-1. If its wavelength is 1.5 cm, what is the
frequency of the wave? Will it be audible?

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Answer:

Question 15. What is reverberation? How can it be reduced?

Answer: The persistence of sound in an auditorium is the result of repeated reflections of sound and
is called reverberation.
To reduce the undesirable effects due to reverberation, roofs and walls of the auditorium are
generally covered with sound absorbent materials like compressed fiberboard, rough plaster or
draperies. The seat materials are also selected having sound absorption properties.

Question 16. What is loudness of sound? What factors does it depend on?
Answer: The loudness of sound is determined by its amplitude. The amplitude of the sound wave
depends upon the force with which an object is made to vibrate. Loud sound can travel a larger
distance as it is associated with higher energy. A sound waves spreads out from its source. As it
moves away from the source its amplitude as well as its loudness decreases.

Question 17. Explain how bats use ultrasound to catch a prey.

Answer: Bats search out its prey by emitting and detecting reflections of ultrasonic waves. The high-

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pitched ultrasonic squeaks of bat are reflected from the obstacles or prey and return to bat’s ear. The
nature of reflection tells the bat where the obstacle or prey is and what it is like.

Question 18. How is ultrasound used for cleaning?

Answer: Ultrasound is used to clean parts located in hard-to-reach places (i.e.) spiral tube, odd
shaped parts, electronic components etc. Objects to be cleaned are placed in a cleaning solution and
ultrasonic waves are sent into the solution. Due to the high frequency, the dust particles, grease get
detached and drop out. The objects thus get thoroughly cleaned.

Question 19. Explain the working and application of a sonar.

Answer: Working: SONAR Consists of a transmitter and a detector and is installed in a boat or a ship
as shown in the fig. The transmitter produces and transmits ultrasonic waves. These waves travel
through water and after striking the object on the seabed, get reflected back and are sensed by the
detector. The detector converts the ultrasonic waves into electrical signals which are appropriately
interpreted. The distance of the object that reflected the sound wave can be calculated by knowing
the speed of sound in water and the time interval between the transmission and reception of the
ultrasound.

Question 20. A sonar device on a submarine sends out a signal and receives an echo 5 s later.
Calculate the speed of sound in water if the distance of the object from the submarine is 3625 m.

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Answer: Time taken between transmission and reception of signal = 5 sec.
Distance of the object from the sub marine = 3625 m.

Question.21. Explain how defects in a metal block can be detected using ultrasound.
Answer. Ultrasounds can be used to detect cracks and flaws in metal blocks. Metallic components
are used in the construction of big structures like buildings, bridges, machines and scientific
equipment’s. The cracks or holes inside the metal blocks, which are invisible from outside reduces
the strength of the structure. Ultrasonic waves are allowed to pass through the metallic block and
detectors are used to detect the transmitted waves. If there is even a small defect, the ultrasound
gets reflected back indicating the presence of the flaw or defect.

Question 22. Explain how the human ear works.

Answer: The outer ear is called “pinna. It collects the sound from the surroundings. The collected
sound passes through the auditory canal. At the end of the auditory canal there is a thin membrane
called the eardrum or the tympanic membrane. When a compression of the medium reaches the
eardrum the pressure on the outside of the membrane increases and forces the eardrum inward.
Similarly, the eardrum moves outward when a rarefaction reaches it. In this way the eardrum
vibrates. The vibrations are amplified several times by three bones (the hammer, anvil and stirrup) in
the middle ear. The middle ear transmits the amplified pressure variations received from the sound
wave to the inner ear. In the inner ear, the pressure variations are turned into electrical signals by the
cochlea. These electrical signals are sent to the brain via the auditory nerve and the brain interprets
them as sound.