chapter 11: hearing Flashcards
what is the difference between the physical and the perceptual definition of sound
physical: pressure change
perceptual: experience
when does a sound stimulus occur
mov or vibrations of an object causes pressure change in air/water or other elastic medium
explain the compression and the rarefaction process
compression: push surrounding air molecules together, density ↑
rarefaction: air molecules spread out to fill increased space, density ↓
what is a sound wave
pattern of alternating high and low pressure regions
- speed of 340meters/sec
true or false? when sound causes air to move, the air molecules travel further and further away from the sound stimulus
false, they move back and forth but stay in the same place
what is a pure tone
changes in air pressure that occur in a pattern called sine wave
differentiate frequency and amplitude
frequency: number of cycles per second
amplitude: size of pressure change
sound frequency are measured in … and higher frequencies are associated with higher …
Hertz (Hz)
pitch
sound amplitude are measured in … and the amplitude of a sound is associated with the …
decibel (dB)
loudness
what is a periodic waveform
waveform that repeats
what is called the repetition rate of a waveform
fundamental frequency
the first harmonic is the frequency equal to the fundamental frequency. how are higher harmonics calculated?
multiples of the fundamental frequency
- 2nd harmonic is frequency x 2
describe the frequency spectra
line position indicates frequency (horizontal axis)
line height indicates harmonic’s amplitude
In a complex tone, removing a harmonic doesn’t change the rate of repetition, only the waveform. Why is that
when the fundamental is removed, the spacing remains so there is still info in the waveform indicating the frequency of the fundamental
what is the equation used to transform sound pressure level into decibels
dB = 20 x log10 (p/po)
where p = pressure of sound
po = reference pressure
what procedure was used to determine the relationship between level in decibels and loudness
magnitude estimation
in the audibility graph, indicate what the audibility curve, the auditory response area, the threshold of feeling, and the equal loudness curve represent
audibility curve: threshold for hearing
aud resp area: tones we can hear
threshold of feeling: when tones become painful and can cause damage
equal loud curve: diff frequencies, same loudness
the lowest and the highest note on the piano is represented by how many hertz
low: 27.5Hz
high: 4186Hz
define tone height
perceptual experience of increasing pitch that accompanies increases in a tone’s fundamental frequency
define tone chroma
different octaves of the same note
- fundamental frequencies that are multiple of two
what is the effect of the missing fundamental
when pitch remains the same, even when the fundamental or other harmonics are removed
what is a sound’s timber
quality that distinguished between two tones that have the same loudness, pitch and duration, but still sound different
what are the two things a sound’s timber depends on
- steady-state harmonic structure
- attack and decay of the tone’s harmonic
define what are a tone’s attack and a tone’s decay
attack: buildup of sound at the beg of the tone
decay: decrease in sound at the end of tone