Light and Sound Show: Energy and Sound Module Overview

Have you ever thought about sound and how we are able to hear? We will explore the components of sound and how sound waves travel through different materials. We will look into the components of sound that make a professional singer sound pleasant to the ear while the voice of others can sound irritating. We will analyze waves and how they behave as they encounter one another and how they are generated. After completing this module you will never listen to things the same way again!

Essential Questions

Why do you need to put soundproofing in a movie theater?
How can small waves in the middle of the ocean become huge waves as they approach the coast?
How do musical instruments make sounds of different pitch and intensity?
How is that we can hear someone talking with using a tin can "phone"?

Key Terms

Acoustics - The science of sound. Study of the interaction between sound waves and objects
Amplification - Producing sounds that have more intensity than where they were originally produced
Compression - Moving molecules closer together as in a gas
Compression wave - (longitudinal wave)- A wave produced where molecules are pushed closer together and then rebound to their normal position
Crest - The highest point of a transverse wave
Decibel - Unit of sound intensity
Density - The ratio of mass versus volume: D= m/V
Doppler Effect - When sound waves of an object moving relative to the observer take on a different frequency than if they were stationary.
Frequency - The number of waves that pass a given point in a given amount of time
Inner ear - Inner most part of the ear that contains the cochlea and nerve endings
Intensity - The loudness of sound
Mach I - An object reaches this point when it breaks the sound barrier
Medium - A substance that sound can travel through
Middle ear - The part of the ear that contains the ossicles (ear bones)
Outer ear - The part of the ear that receives sound input from the outside world
P wave - Primary compression wave that occurs during an earthquake
Pitch - The high or low effect of sound based on frequency
Rarefaction - The decompression of a compression wave
S wave - The transverse wave associated with an Earthquake
Seismograph- An instrument that records seismic waves
Sonic Boom - The release of a massive sound wave that occurs when an object breaks the sound barrier
Sound barrier - The point at which an object exceeds the speed of sound
Sound wave - A compression wave that carries energy to a natural or artificial device that can detect pressure changes
Speed of sound - 343.2 meters per second or 1,126 ft/s. This is equivalent to 1,236 kilometers per hour or 768 mph
Supersonic - An object that can break the sound barrier
Tinnitus - Ringing or hissing in the ear as a result of listening to high frequency or high intensity sounds
Trough - The lowest part of a transverse wave
Transverse wave - A wave that moves energy in one direction, but travels in a path that oscillates up and down in equal directions
Wavelength - The distance between two crests in a transverse wave, or the distance between the compressions of a compression wave

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