Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
If you are walking on the moon, can you hear the sound of stones cracking behind you? Can you hear the sound of your own footsteps?
Advertisements
Solution
No, we cannot hear the sound of stones. Sound is a mechanical wave and requires a medium to travel; there is no medium on the moon.
No, we cannot hear the sound of our own footsteps because the vibrations of sound waves from the footsteps must travel through our body to reach our ears. By that time however, the sound waves diminish in magnitude.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
A wave is represented by an equation \[y = c_1 \sin \left( c_2 x + c_3 t \right)\] In which direction is the wave going? Assume that \[c_1 , c_2\] \[c_3\] are all positive.
Two tuning forks vibrate with the same amplitude but the frequency of the first is double the frequency of the second. Which fork produces more intense sound in air?
A tuning fork sends sound waves in air. If the temperature of the air increases, which of the following parameters will change?
When you speak to your friend, which of the following parameters have a unique value in the sound produced?
A listener is at rest with respect to the source of sound. A wind starts blowing along the line joining the source and the observer. Which of the following quantities do not change?
(a) Frequency
(b) Velocity of sound
(c) Wavelength
(d) Time period
A person can hear sound waves in the frequency range 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Find the minimum and the maximum wavelengths of sound that is audible to the person. The speed of sound is 360 m s−1.
The absolute temperature of air in a region linearly increases from T1 to T2 in a space of width d. Find the time taken by a sound wave to go through the region in terms of T1, T2, d and the speed v of sound at 273 K. Evaluate this time for T1 = 280 K, T2 = 310 K, d = 33 m and v = 330 m s−1.
The length of the wire shown in figure between the pulley is 1⋅5 m and its mass is 12⋅0 g. Find the frequency of vibration with which the wire vibrates in two loops leaving the middle point of the wire between the pulleys at rest.

If the intensity of sound is doubled, by how many decibels does the sound level increase?
A string, fixed at both ends, vibrates in a resonant mode with a separation of 2⋅0 cm between the consecutive nodes. For the next higher resonant frequency, this separation is reduced to 1⋅6 cm. Find the length of the string.
A string of length L fixed at both ends vibrates in its fundamental mode at a frequency ν and a maximum amplitude A. (a)
- Find the wavelength and the wave number k.
- Take the origin at one end of the string and the X-axis along the string. Take the Y-axis along the direction of the displacement. Take t = 0 at the instant when the middle point of the string passes through its mean position and is going towards the positive y-direction. Write the equation describing the standing wave.
Figure shown two coherent sources S1 and S2 which emit sound of wavelength λ in phase. The separation between the sources is 3λ. A circular wire of large radius is placed in such way that S1,S2 is at the centre of the wire. Find the angular positions θ on the wire for which constructive interference takes place.

Two sources of sound S1 and S2 vibrate at same frequency and are in phase. The intensity of sound detected at a point P as shown in the figure is I0. (a) If θ equals 45°, what will be the intensity of sound detected at this point if one of the sources is switched off? (b) What will be the answer of the previous part if θ = 60°?

A traffic policeman standing on a road sounds a whistle emitting the main frequency of 2.00 kHz. What could be the apparent frequency heard by a scooter-driver approaching the policeman at a speed of 36.0 km h−1? Speed of sound in air = 340 m s−1.
Two electric trains run at the same speed of 72 km h−1 along the same track and in the same direction with separation of 2.4 km between them. The two trains simultaneously sound brief whistles. A person is situated at a perpendicular distance of 500 m from the track and is equidistant from the two trains at the instant of the whistling. If both the whistles were at 500 Hz and the speed of sound in air is 340 m s−1, find the frequencies heard by the person.
A car moves with a speed of 54 km h−1 towards a cliff. The horn of the car emits sound of frequency 400 Hz at a speed of 335 m s−1. (a) Find the wavelength of the sound emitted by the horn in front of the car. (b) Find the wavelength of the wave reflected from the cliff. (c) What frequency does a person sitting in the car hear for the reflected sound wave? (d) How many beats does he hear in 10 seconds between the sound coming directly from the horn and that coming after the reflection?
A small source of sound S of frequency 500 Hz is attached to the end of a light string and is whirled in a vertical circle of radius 1.6 m. The string just remains tight when the source is at the highest point. (a) An observer is located in the same vertical plane at a large distance and at the same height as the centre of the circle. The speed of sound in air = 330 m s−1 and g = 10 m s−2. Find the maximum frequency heard by the observer. (b) An observer is situated at a large distance vertically above the centre of the circle. Find the frequency heard by the observer corresponding to the sound emitted by the source when it is at the same height as the centre.

For the propagation of longitudinal waves, the medium must have
- elasticity
- mass
- inertia
- force of cohesion
