Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The sound waves are generated by a sound source, such as the vibrating diaphragm of a stereo speaker. The sound source creates vibrations in the surrounding medium. As the source continues to vibrate the medium, the vibrations propagate away from the source at the speed of sound, thus forming the sound wave.
An acoustic wave is a mechanical wave that transmits energy through the movements of atoms and molecules. Acoustic waves transmit through fluids in a longitudinal manner (movement of particles are parallel to the direction of propagation of the wave); in contrast to electromagnetic waves that transmit in transverse manner (movement of particles at a right angle to the direction of propagation ...
More specifically, it is necessary that the dimensions of the rooms or obstacles in the sound path should be much greater than the wavelength. If the characteristic dimensions for a given problem become comparable to the wavelength, then wave diffraction begins to play an important part, and this is not covered by geometric acoustics. [1]
These reflected sound waves, when added to the direct sound, cause cancellation and addition at assorted frequencies (e.g. from resonant room modes), thus changing the timbre and character of the sound at the listener's ears. The human brain is sensitive to small variations in reflected sound, and this is part of the reason why a loudspeaker ...
The varying air pressure of sound waves imparts mechanical vibrations to the diaphragm which can then be converted to some other type of signal; examples of this type of diaphragm are found in microphones and the human eardrum. Conversely a diaphragm vibrated by a source of energy beats against the air, creating sound waves.
The fraction of sound absorbed is governed by the acoustic impedances of both media and is a function of frequency and the incident angle. [2] Size and shape can influence the sound wave's behavior if they interact with its wavelength, giving rise to wave phenomena such as standing waves and diffraction.
The sound generator is turned on and the piston is adjusted until the sound from the tube suddenly gets much louder. This indicates that the tube is at resonance. This means the length of the round-trip path of the sound waves, from one end of the tube to the other and back again, is a multiple of the wavelength λ of the sound waves. Therefore ...
Rarefaction waves expand with time (much like sea waves spread out as they reach a beach); in most cases rarefaction waves keep the same overall profile ('shape') at all times throughout the wave's movement: it is a self-similar expansion. Each part of the wave travels at the local speed of sound, in the local medium.