Exploring Structure Using Waves

what can sound waves be used to do?

Sound waves can be used to analyse structures that are hidden from direct observation

Give 3 examples of the use of sound waves

any of the 5:

• Echo sounding used by shipping to detect the ocean floor

• Ultrasound used to look inside the human body

• Ultrasound crack detection to find cracks in rail tracks

• Reflection seismology to detect oil and gas underground

• Seismic activity (Earthquakes) can be used to investigate the structure of the Earth

what are the properties of a substance that allow the detection of hidden structures are

• Reflection

• Absorption

• Transmission

• The speed of sound in the substance

what does each substance produce?

Each type of substance will produce different amounts of reflection, absorption and transmission

what does each type od substance transmit?

• Each type of substance will also transmit a sound wave at a specific speed

  • Sounds will travel faster in solids than liquids and sound travels faster in liquids than gases

what do certain structures do?

• Certain structures will reflect a proportion of the sound wave and transmit the rest

  • Some substances will absorb sound waves with very little reflection

how can the hidden structure be identified?

By detecting the amount of sound reflected and the speed of the wave the hidden structure can be identified