Sound is any disturbance that travels through an elastic medium such as air, ground, or water to be heard by the human ear. When a body moves back and forth (vibrates), the oscillation causes a disturbance of the surrounding medium, it radiates outward in straight lines in the form of a pressure wave. The pressure wave is perceived by the ear as a sound. In physics, sound is considered to be waves of vibratory motion, whether or not the human ear hears them.
Sound waves are generated by and vibrating body. When something is moved, like a violin sting, the sting moving pushes molecules of air into a clump, which also creates a space. The clump’s energy of motion causes it to move into other air molecules. Then air molecule move back into the empty space. Sound waves cannot travel in a vacuum because there is no air.
The human ear can hear most sounds. We can generally hear between 20 and 20,000 vibrations per second, but changes for each individual. The sound’s volume is measured in decibels. The number of vibrations per second is called the fr
Sound waves can be reflected, refracted, and absorbed like light rays. The reflection of a sound makes an echo, which is important for theaters or auditoriums.
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