Sound

What is a sound wave

A sound wave is a vibration that travels through a solid, liquid or gas such as air or water

What does a loud sound have

A loud sound has a large amplitude

What does a high pitched sound have

A high pitched sound has a high frequency

How do you hear sounds

When there is a sound wave the air particles don’t travel directly to your ear. sound waves are vibrations being passed on between particles. An example of this would be the vibrating rubber band pushing the air particles next to it.

What are the ear bones

The anvil, the stirrup and the hammer

Name the parts of the ear

Pinnacle

air canal

Eardrum

Ear bones

cochlea

auditory nerve

How does the sound reach our ear canal

When a sound reaches us, the air particles inside our ear canal vibrate to hit the ear drum.

What happens in the ear drum when we hear noise

The eardrum then starts vibrating and these vibrations are passed to three small ear bones- called the hammer, anvil and stirrup

How does the vibrations get to the cochlea

The stirrup bone hits the cochlea which turns vibrations into an electrical signal that is sent to our brain via the auditory nerve

How do we hear the electrical signals

When the signal reaches our brain, our brain translates the signal into the sound we hear

What is a sound wave

A wave is an oscillation or vibration which transfers energy from one place to another

What is Amplitude

Amplitude is the distance from the middle to the top or bottom of the wave

What is wavelength

Wavelength is the distance between a point on the wave to the same point on the next wave

What is the trough

The trough is the bottom of the wave

What is the peak

The peak is the top of the wave

What is the frequency

Frequency is how many waves pass a fixed point per second

What is frequency measured in

Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz)

What type of wave is sound

Sound is a type of longitudinal wave

What are some characteristics of a longitudinal wave

Longitudinal waves, travel in the direction of the energy transfer and need a medium to travel through

How are sound waves caused

Sound waves are caused by the vibration of particles

What do sound waves travel quicker in

Sound waves travel quicker in a solid than a gas as the particles are closer together

What is an Oscilloscope

An Oscilloscopes display should waves on a screen

What can humans hear between

Humans can hear between 20-20000 hertz (Hz)

Do animals have the same hearing range as animals

Other animals have different ranges of hearing

What are sound waves about 20000 hertz called

Sound waves above 20000 Hz are known as ultrasound

Can humans hear ultrasound

Ultrasound waves are too high pitched for humans to hear

What does the pinna do

The pinna directs sound along the auditory canal to the eardrum which will vibrate

What happens after the sound waves hit the eardrum

The vibration from the ear drum moves onto the ossicles which amplifies the sound

What happens after sound reaches the ossicles

This passes the sound to the cochlea where tiny hairs detect the vibrations and passes this along to the auditory nerve as electrical signals for our brain

What happens if you put your ear to the desk and tap it

If you put your ear on the desk and tap the edge of the desk you are hearing sound through a solid

What happens if you are underwater

If you are underwater in a swimming pool you are hearing sound through a liquid

What can sound travel through

Sound can travel through anything made of particles

What does the speed of sound depend on

How quickly sound travels depends on how close together the particles are

What is faster speed of sound or light

speed of light

How do you know how fast sound travels

the particles in gases are further apart then liquids, and so sound travels slower in a gas then in a liquid. The particles in a solid are closer still so sound travels fastest in solids

What happens if there are no particles

If there are no particles, like a vacuum of space, sound can’t travel at all