Sound Waves

Sound Waves

• Sound waves are caused by vibrating objects, these mechanical vibrations are passed through the surrounding medium as a series of compressions - longitudinal waves
• Sometimes the sound will eventually reach someone's eardrum
• Because sound waves are caused by vibrating particles, the denser the medium, the faster sound travels
• Sound generally travels faster in solids than liquids and faster in liquids than gases

Sound waves can reflect and refract...

• Sound waves will be reflected by hard flat surfaces, things like carpets and curtains absorb sound waves
• Sound waves also refract as they enter different media, as they enter dense materials they speed up

The frequency of a wave is the number…