UH L5

Sound waves &

Doppler Effect
Beats: Two sound waves with nearly
the same frequencies interact with
one another, will produce a warbling
sound, a sound that is alternately
louder and softer.
Example : A person hears tones of
440 hertz and 444 hertz
simultaneously. Calculate
(a) The number of beats heard each
second
444 Hz 440 Hz = 4 beats/s
(b) The pitch of the resultant sound
(444 +440 Hz)/2 = 442 Hz
Sound waves spectrum
- Audible region: 20 20 KHz
- Infrasound: f < 20 Hz
produced by earthquake, wind,
weather patterns, be heard by some
animals
- Ultrasound: f > 20 KHz,
used to detect underwater objects;
echolocation by bats; ultrasound in
medicine.
The speed of sound
- The speed of sound is generally about 2-
4 times as fast in solids as in liquids and
about 10 -15 times as fast in solids as in
air.
- in dry air v = ( 331 + 0.6Tc ) m/s
where Tc is the air temperature in
Celsius.
- Speed of sound in various materials
in a copper rod v
Cu
= 3.5 x 10
3
m/s
in water v
H2O
= 1.5 x 10
3
m/s
in air at 20 C v
air
= 3.43 x 10
2
m/s
Sound intensity and intensity level
Intensity I = (energy/time)/area
= power/area = P/A
For point source I = P/4R
2
Threshold of hearing: I
0
= 10
-12
W/m
2
Threshold of pain (intensity
uncomfortably loud) Ip = 1 W/m
2
Intensity level (decibel level dB)
= 10 log(I/I
0
) dB where I
0
= 10
-12
W/m
2
Doppler Effect occurs with all types of
waves as the results of relative motion
between a source and an observer.
Source in motion
Static observer
red-shift & blue shift.
Results of Doppler Effect
In mechanical waves -> higher/lower freq
than the standing source frequency.
In electromagnetic waves -> red/blue shift
Doppler effect for a moving source
f
obs
= v/ = ( v / (v - v
s
) ) f
s
s moves toward o
f
obs
= v/ = ( v / (v + v
s
) ) f
s
s moves away
from o
Doppler effect for a moving observer
f
obs
= v/ = ( v + v
o
) f
s
/v o moves toward s
f
obs
= v/ = ( v - v
o
) f
s
/v o moves away from
s