Sound
Listen to this sound song
5F Sound Song from Simple Science on Vimeo.
Sounds are vibrations
- Sounds are nade when objects vibrate. The vibration makes the air around vibrate, and the air vibrations enter your ear which you hear as a sound.
- You cannot always see the vibrations, but if something is making a sound some part of it is vibrating.
OBJECT VIBRATES ———————> AIR VIBRATES ———————-> EAR DRUM VIBRATES
Sound vibrations can travel through different materials
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- Sounds as vibrations can travel through many different materials. They can travel through solids such as metal, stone and wood. They can travel through liquids such as water and they can travel through gases such as air.
- Sound vibrations travel better through some materials than others. For example, sound vibrations travel very well along metal pipes.
- Sound cannot travel through a completely empty space (a vacuum), which has nothing, not even air, in it. If there is a vacuum between a sound-making object and our ears, we won’t be able to hear the sound.
Pitch of a sound
- The pitch of a sound is how high or low the sound is. A high sound has a high pitch and a low sound has a low pitch.
- When plucked, a short string gives a higher-pitched sound than a long string.
- When banged, a tight drum skin gives a higher-pitched sound than a loose drum skin.
Loudness of a sound
- The loudness of a sound is how loud or soft the sound is.
- A guitar string plucked strongly makes a loud sound. A guitar string plucked gently makes a soft sound.
- A drum skin hit hard makes a loud sound. A drum skin hit gently makes a soft sound.
- A recorder blown hard makes a loud sound. A recorder blown gently makes a soft sound.
Take this sound quiz to test your knowledge
good luck!
