1. Final Project - Acoustics Flashcards
Define these 4 terms:
- NOISE
- PITCH
- VOLUME
- FREQUENCY
- NOISE
- Any unwanted sound
- PITCH
- Wavelength of sound
- VOLUME
- Amplitude of sound
- FREQUENCY
- # cycles/second (hertz)
What is a sound wave?
Sound waves are longitudinal pressure waves in the air or an elastic medium.
What is a Decibel (dB)?
Decibel (dB) is a unit for expressing the relative pressure or intensity of sounds on a uniform scale from 0 (threshold for hearing) to 130 (pain).
What is a frequency?
Frequency, sometimes referred to as pitch, is the number of times per second that a sound pressure wave repeats itself.
The range is between 15Hz to 20,000 Hz for human ear.
Hertz (Hz) is 1 cycle per second.
What is a reflecting surface?
Reflecting surfaces are nonabsorptive surfaces from which incident sound is reflected, used to redirect sound in a space.
It must have least dimension equal or greater than the wavelength of the lowest frequency of the sound.
What is diffracted sound?
Diffracted sound is airborne sound waves bent by diffraction around an obstacle in their path.
What is reflected sound?
Reflected sound is the return of unabsorbed airborne sound after striking a surface, at an angle equal to the angle of incidence.
When is reflected sound important?
In a room, the human ear always hears direct sound before it hears reflected sound.
As direct sound loses intensity, the importance of reflected sound increases.
What is attentuation?
Attenuation is a decrease in energy or pressure per unit area of a sound wave, occuring as the distance from the source increases as a result of absorption, scattering or spreading in three dimensions.
What is reverberation?
Reverberation is the persistence of a sound within an enclosed space, caused by multiple reflection of the sound after its source has stopped.
What is resonance?
Acoustic resonance is a phenomenon in which an acoustic system amplifies sound waves whose frequency matches one of its own natural frequencies of vibration.
What is an echo?
Echoes are the repetitions of a sound produced by the reflection of sound waves from an obstructing surface, loud enough and received late enough to be perceived as distinct from the source.
What is flutter?
Flutter is a rapid succession of echoes caused by the reflection of sound waves back and forth between two parallel surfaces.
What is focusing?
Focusing is the convergence of sound waves reflected from a concave surface.
What are 6 types of sound that can reach a listener? (2 types not shown below)
-
Incident Sound (mirror)
- reflects off of surfaces with low a (sound absorb)
- to be effective surface area>wavelength
- returns @ angle = incident angle
-
Diffracted Sound
- airborne sound waves bent by obstacle in path
-
Airborne Sound
- Travels directly from source to listener
-
Attenuation
- greater distance from source = lower amplitude as it spreads
-
Echoes
- reflected sound waves
- loud & late enough to be considered distinct
- occurs w parallel surfaces 60’(18m) apart
-
Focusing
- convergence of sound waves reflected from concave surface