Mason Blake
Sound is a type of energy created by vibrations when an object vibrates, causing movement in the surrounding air molecules. These molecules then bump into other molecules, creating a chain reaction of sound waves until the molecules run out of energy. The pitch of a sound is determined by its wavelength and the mass of the vibrating object. Generally, the greater the mass, the slower the vibration and the lower the pitch. Sound waves enter the human ear and cause the eardrum to vibrate, with the attached three tiny bones (the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup or the malleus, incus, and stapes) amplifying these vibrations. The vibrations are then sent to the cochlea in the inner ear, where they cause a travelling wave along the basilar membrane. This wave stimulates hair cells, which send electrical signals to the brain via the auditory nerve, allowing us to recognize and understand the sound.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| What is sound? | A type of energy made by vibrations |
| How is sound made? | When an object vibrates, it causes movement in surrounding air molecules. These molecules bump into the molecules close to them, causing them to vibrate as well. |
| How is sound heard? | The physical reception of sound in any hearing organism is limited to a range of frequencies. Humans normally hear sound as pitch for frequencies between approximately 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz (20 kHz). |
| How do vibrations reach the ears? | Sound waves make the air around vibrate and the air vibrations enter your ear. |
| What happens inside the ear? | The eardrum vibrates from the incoming sound waves and sends these vibrations to three tiny bones in the middle ear. These bones are called the malleus, incus, and stapes. |
| What do the bones in the ear do? | The bones in the middle ear amplify, or increase, the sound vibrations and send them to the cochlea, a snail-shaped structure filled with fluid, in the inner ear. |
| What happens in the cochlea? | Once the vibrations cause the fluid inside the cochlea to ripple, a traveling wave forms along the basilar membrane. Hair cells—sensory cells sitting on top of the basilar membrane—ride the wave. |
| How is sound converted into a signal that the brain can understand? | Hair cells near the wide end of the snail-shaped cochlea detect higher-pitched sounds, such as an infant crying. As the hair cells move up and down, microscopic hair-like projections (known as stereocilia) that perch on top of the hair cells bump against an overlying structure and bend. Bending causes pore-like channels, which are at the tips of the stereocilia, to open up. When that happens, chemicals rush into the cells, creating an electrical signal. The auditory nerve carries this electrical signal to the brain, which turns it into a sound that we recognize and understand. |
| What is pitch? | Pitch is related to frequency, but they are not exactly the same. Frequency is the scientific measure of pitch. The pitch of a sound is largely determined by the mass (weight) of the vibrating object. Generally, the greater the mass, the slower it vibrates and the lower the pitch. |
| What is timbre? | Timbre is perceived as the quality of different sounds (e.g. the thud of a fallen rock, the whir of a drill, the tone of a musical instrument, or the quality of a voice). |
| What is duration? | Duration is perceived as how "long" or "short" a sound is and relates to onset and offset signals created by nerve responses to sounds. |
| What is loudness? | Loudness is perceived as how "loud" or "soft" a sound is and relates to the totalled number of auditory nerve stimulations over short cyclic time periods, most likely over the duration of theta wave cycles. |
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What You'll Learn
Sound is made by vibrations
Sound is made when objects vibrate. When an object vibrates, it causes movement in the surrounding air molecules. These molecules then bump into other molecules close by, causing them to vibrate as well. This creates a "chain reaction" of molecular collisions, known as sound waves, which continue until the molecules run out of energy.
Sound waves can be transmitted through solids, liquids, and gases. For example, sound waves can travel through the air, water, and even solid objects like floorboards. When a sound wave passes through a denser medium, such as water or bone, it travels faster than it would through a less dense medium like air.
The pitch of a sound is determined by the mass (weight) of the vibrating object. Generally, the greater the mass, the slower the vibration, resulting in a lower pitch. However, the pitch can be altered by changing the tension or rigidity of the object. For example, a tight drum membrane will produce a different pitch than a loose one.
To create sound, humans move air past their vocal cords, causing them to vibrate. By stretching or loosening the vocal cords, we can change the pitch of the sound produced. When the vocal cords are stretched, we make high-pitched sounds, and when they are loose, we produce lower-pitched sounds.
Sound waves need to be within a certain frequency range for humans to hear them. We typically hear sounds with frequencies between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz, with the upper limit decreasing as we age. Sounds with frequencies above 20,000 Hz are known as ultrasound, while those below 20 Hz are called infrasound. While humans cannot hear these sounds, some animals, like dogs, can perceive infrasound.
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Vibrations create sound waves
Sound is a type of energy that is made by vibrations. When an object vibrates, it causes the air molecules surrounding it to move. These molecules then bump into other molecules, causing them to vibrate as well. This creates a "chain reaction" of molecular collisions, known as sound waves, which continue until the molecules run out of energy.
Sound waves can be understood as longitudinal waves, where the molecules vibrate back and forth or up and down in the same direction that the sound is travelling. The speed of sound is determined by the physical properties of the air, such as air density, pressure, and temperature, rather than the loudness or pitch of the sound. As sound waves move away from their source, their intensity naturally decreases.
The pitch of a sound is related to its frequency and wavelength. Frequency is the scientific measure of pitch, with higher frequencies corresponding to higher pitches. The pitch of a sound is largely determined by the mass of the vibrating object, with greater mass typically resulting in slower vibrations and lower pitch. However, pitch can also be altered by changing the tension or rigidity of the object. For example, a tight string on a musical instrument can produce a higher pitch than a loose string.
For humans to hear these sound waves, they must enter the outer ear and cause the eardrum to vibrate. This vibration is amplified by three tiny bones in the middle ear: the malleus, incus, and stapes. These bones send the amplified vibrations to the cochlea, a fluid-filled structure in the inner ear. The vibrations create a ripple effect in the fluid, forming a travelling wave along the basilar membrane, a partition within the cochlea. Hair cells, or sensory cells, sitting on top of the basilar membrane, ride this wave and detect different pitches based on their position along the membrane. The hair cells then convert the vibrations into electrical signals, which the auditory nerve carries to the brain, allowing us to recognize and understand the sound.
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Sound waves travel through solids, liquids and gases
Sound is a type of energy produced by vibrations when an object vibrates. These vibrations cause movement in the surrounding air molecules, which then bump into other air molecules, creating a "chain reaction" of molecular collisions known as sound waves. These sound waves can travel through solids, liquids, and gases, but the speed at which they travel depends on the medium.
Sound waves travel faster in solids than in liquids, and faster in liquids than in gases. This is because the molecules in solids are closer together and more tightly bonded compared to those in liquids or gases. In gases, the molecules are more spread out, so the sound waves travel at a slower velocity. For example, sound travels faster through water than through air, and faster through bone than through water.
The density of a medium also affects the speed of sound. A denser object with the same elastic properties will transmit sound at a slower rate. For instance, sound travels faster in aluminum than in gold because aluminum is less dense than gold.
Additionally, sound waves are longitudinal waves, which means they propagate through space due to particles colliding with each other. When a sound wave passes through a denser medium, it moves faster than it would through a less dense medium. This is why sound waves can be heard—the vibrations enter the outer ear, causing our eardrums and the three tiny bones attached to them (the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup) to vibrate, creating larger vibrations that are picked up by the auditory nerve.
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Sound waves enter the ear and cause the eardrum to vibrate
Sound is created by a vibrating object, which could be anything from a drum to vocal cords. These vibrations cause the air molecules around the object to vibrate, creating a "chain reaction" of molecular collisions—this is what we know as sound waves.
Sound waves are able to travel through different media, such as gas (e.g. air), liquid (e.g. water), or solid (e.g. bone). When sound waves enter the ear, they travel through the ear canal and strike the eardrum, causing it to vibrate. This is the tympanic membrane, which separates the outer ear from the middle ear.
The eardrum vibrates from the incoming sound waves and sends these vibrations to three tiny bones in the middle ear: the malleus, incus, and stapes (or the hammer, anvil, and stirrup). These bones amplify the sound vibrations and transmit them to the inner ear.
The inner ear is a fluid-filled, curved space, sometimes called the labyrinth. It contains the cochlea, a snail-shaped structure that is the main sensory organ of hearing. The sound vibrations cause the fluid in the cochlea to move, bending the tiny hair cells (cilia) inside. This movement creates nerve impulses that travel along the cochlear nerve to the brain, where they are interpreted as sound.
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The brain interprets vibrations as sound
Sound is created by a vibrating object. When an object vibrates, it causes the air molecules surrounding it to vibrate as well. These molecules then bump into other molecules, causing them to vibrate, and this "chain reaction" movement, known as sound waves, continues until the molecules run out of energy.
Sound waves are longitudinal waves, meaning the molecules vibrate in the same direction that the sound wave is travelling. These waves can travel through solids, liquids, and gases, such as air.
When sound waves enter the human ear, they cause the eardrum to vibrate. The eardrum then sends these vibrations to three tiny bones in the middle ear: the malleus, incus, and stapes (also known as the hammer, anvil, and stirrup). These bones amplify the sound vibrations and send them to the cochlea, a snail-shaped structure filled with fluid in the inner ear.
Once the vibrations reach the cochlea, they cause the fluid inside to ripple, creating a travelling wave along the basilar membrane, a structure within the cochlea. Hair cells, or sensory cells, sit on top of the basilar membrane and ride the wave. Hair cells closer to the wide end of the cochlea detect higher-pitched sounds, while those closer to the center detect lower-pitched sounds. As the hair cells move, microscopic hair-like projections called stereocilia bend and bump against an overlying structure. This causes pore-like channels at the tips of the stereocilia to open, allowing chemicals to rush into the cells and creating an electrical signal.
Finally, the auditory nerve carries this electrical signal to the brain, which interprets it as a recognizable sound. The brain's interpretation of these vibrations gives them the quality of pitch, which is related to frequency. Generally, the greater the mass of the vibrating object, the slower it vibrates, resulting in a lower pitch. However, pitch can be altered by changing the tension or rigidity of the object, such as tightening the strings of a musical instrument.
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