Explore BrainMass

Explore BrainMass

    Sound & Hearing

    Hearing is the ability to perceive sounds by detecting vibrations or changes in pressure through the ear. Sounds may be heard through solid, liquid or gaseous matter. Hearing is one of the traditional five senses. If someone has the inability to hear it is called deafness. Sound is the mechanical oscillating wave of pressure transmitted through some medium. It is composed of frequencies within the range of hearing.  

    In vertebrates, hearing is performed by the auditory system. Vibrations of sound are detected by the ear and transduced into nerve impulses. These nerve impulses are then perceived by the brain. Similar to the sensation of touch, hearing requires sensitivity to the movement of molecules in the world outside the organism. Hearing and touch sensations are types of mechanosensation.

    The human ear has three main components, the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear includes the visible part of the ear, the auditory canal and the eardrum. The middle ear consists of a small air filled chamber that is located behind the eardrum. Within this chamber are three small bones referred to collectively as the ossicles. The inner ear contains the cochlea. The cochlea is a spiral shaped fluid filled tube that is the organ of auditory transduction.

     

    © BrainMass Inc. brainmass.com March 19, 2024, 5:08 am ad1c9bdddf

    BrainMass Categories within Sound & Hearing

    BrainMass Solutions Available for Instant Download

    Type of Interference and intensity level problems

    1. There are two speakers at the front of the room. Each is outputting a 250Hz pure tone. For each of the following situations, will you hear constructive interference (a loud noise) or destructive interference (soft or no noise). Lambda represents the wavelength of the 250Hz tone. Choices: Constructive, Destructive. a. You are

    Sounds and Loudness

    How loud is too loud? When is a sound too loud? What can be done about sounds/noises that are too loud for you? If you have some ideas I am very happy to learn from you.

    Physics: Tuning fork, harmonics, transverse waves on a string

    1. A tuning fork is sounded above a (narrow) resonating tube as in lab. The first resonant situation occurs when the water level is 0.08 m from the top of the tube, and the second when the level is at 0.24 m from the top. Let vsound = 340 m/s. a) Where is the water level for the third resonant point? b) What is the frequ

    Frequency and wavelength of emitted sound wave

    39. A violin string 17.8 cm long and fixed at both ends oscillates in it's n = 5 mode. The speed of waves on the string is 206 m/s, and the speed of sound in air is 348 m/s. What are (a) the frequency and (b) the wavelength of the emitted sound wave? 51. The A string of a violin is a little too tightly stretched. Beats at 4 p

    Sound Waves: Standing Waves & Beats

    1. Organ pipe A, with both ends open, has a fundamental frequency of 300 Hz. The third harmonic of organ pipe B, with one end open, has the same frequency as the second harmonic of pipe A. How long are (a) pipe A and (b) pipe B? 2. A tuning fork of unknown frequency makes 3.00 beats per second with a standard fork of frequenc

    Pressure amplitude, frequency, wavelength, and speed of wave

    1. The pressure in a traveling sound wave is given by the equation, as mentioned in the attachment. Find the (a) pressure amplitude, (b) frequency, (c) wavelength, and (d) speed of the wave. 2. Two sound waves, from two different sources with the same frequency, 540 Hz, travel in the same direction at 330 m/s. The sources are

    Sound Waves: Beats, Beat Frequency

    Each of three tuning forks, A, B, and C, has a slightly different frequency. When A and B are sounded together, they produce a beat frequency of 2 Hz. When A and C are sounded together, they produce a beat frequency of 5 Hz. What is the smallest possible beat frequency when B and C are sounded together?

    Physics: Hearing & Sound Incident on the Eardrum

    Hearing damage may occur when a person is exposed to a sound intensity level of 90.0 dB (relative to the threshold of human hearing) for a period of 9.00 hours. An eardrum has an area of 1.93 x 10-4 m2. How much sound energy is incident on the eardrum during this time?

    Physics: The Plane and a Rescue Boat. Determine the speed of the plane.

    A rescue plane flies horizontally at a constant speed searching for a disabled boat. When the plane is directly above the boat, the boat's crew blows a loud horn. By the time the plane's sound detector perceives the horn's sound, the plane has traveled a distance equal to one half its altitude above the ocean. If it takes the so

    Interference of Waves: Frequencies for Maximum Sound

    A microphone is located on the line connecting two speakers that are 0.523 m apart and oscillating 180° out of phase. The microphone is 2.03 m from the midpoint of the two speakers. (a) What is the lowest frequency that produces an interference maximum at the microphone's location? (b) What is the next lowest frequency t

    Waves and sounds

    As the drawing shows, the length of a guitar string is 0.628 m. The frets are numbered for convenience. A performer can play a musical scale on a single string, because the spacing between the frets is designed according to the following rule: When the string is pushed against any fret j, the fundamental frequency of the shorten

    Frequency is measured for speakers

    Two speakers separated by a distance of D = 4.30 m emit sound with opposite phase. A person listens from a location d1 = 2.90 m in front of one of the speakers. What is the lowest (nonzero) frequency that gives destructive interference in this case? .....Hz?

    Tenstion in the stirng(Wave and sounds)

    As the drawing shows, the length of a guitar string is 0.628 m. The frets are numbered for convenience. A performer can play a musical scale on a single string, because the spacing between the frets is designed according to the following rule: When the string is pushed against any fret j, the fundamental frequency of the shorten

    Determining Range of Lengths of Pipes

    If you were to build a pipe organ with open-tube pipes spanning the range of human hearing (20 Hz to 20 kHz), what would be the range of the lengths of pipes required? Shortest pipe (in meters). Longest pipe (in meters).

    Physics - Wave Motion

    A steel cable with total length 30m and mass 100kg is connected to two poles. The tension in the cable is 3000N, and the wind makes the cable vibrate with a frequency of 2Hz. Calculate the wavelength of the resulting wave on the cable.

    Destructive Interference of Sound Waves

    Two adjacent sound sources each emit a frequency of 527[Hz] in air, where the velocity of sound is 349[m/s]. How much further back would source one have to move so that an observer in front of the two sources would hear no sound?

    fundamental frequency of a pipe

    The fundamental frequency of a pipe that is open at both ends is 592 Hz. a). How long is this pipe? b). If one end is now closed, find the wavelength of the new fundamental. c). If one end is now closed, find the frequency of the new fundamental.

    Two Guitarists - Beats Wavelengths

    Two guitarists attempt to play the same note of wavelength 6.49 cm at the same time, but one of the instruments is slightly out of tune and plays a note of wavelength 6.52 cm instead. What is the frequency of the beat these musicians hear when they play together?

    Ultrasound Imaging: Calculate the frequency required ...

    Ultrasound is the name given to frequencies above the human range of hearing, which is about 20000 {rm Hz}. Waves above this frequency can be used to penetrate the body and to produce images by reflecting from surfaces. In a typical ultrasound scan, the waves travel with a speed of 1500 {rm m/s}. For a good detailed image, the w

    Linear Superposition and Interference Phenomena

    The location of the speakers in this problem is what's throwing me off. Two speakers, one directly behind the other, are each generating a 245-Hz sound wave. What is the smallest separation distance between the speakers that will produce destructive interference at a listener standing in front of them? The speed of sound is

    Sound Waves and Motion Properties

    1) Sound waves travel through an aluminum bar at a speed of 1400 m/s. If the frequency of the sound wave is 880 Hz, what is the distance between crests on a sound wave traveling through aluminum? 2) An airplane flies horizontally at a constant speed, piloted by rescuers who are searching for a disabled boat. When the plane

    Tube filled with different media

    The fundamental frequency of an open-open tube is 1500 Hz when the tube is filled with 0 degree Celsius helium. What is its frequency when filled with 0 degree Celsius air?

    Sound waves travelling in air and solid

    A man strikes a long aluminum rod at one end. Another man at the other end with his ear close to the rod, hears the sound of the blow twice (once through the air and once through the rod), with a 332 ms interval between them. How long is the rod?

    Speed of Sound and Doppler Effect

    The speed of sound in air is about 660miles/hour. A passenger train approaches an unguarded railroad crossing at a constant speed of 60 miles/hour and the locomotive sounds its horn which has a frequency of 400 Hz. [A]. What frequency does a listener standing near the crossing hear? [B]. If the train continues past the

    Tuning a Guitar with Beats

    A 440.0 Hz tuning fork is sounded together with an out-of-tune guitar string, and a beat frequency of 3 Hz is heard. When the string is tightened, the frequency is heard to decrease. What was the original frequency of the guitar string?

    Diffraction Horn Loudspeaker

    Sound exits a diffraction horn loudspeaker through a rectangular opening like a small doorway. A person is sitting at an angle off to the side of a diffraction horn that has a width D of 0.060 m. The speed of sound is 343 m/s. This individual does not hear a sound wave that has a frequency of 8100 Hz. When she is sitting at

    Sound travelling time through multiple mediums

    An explosion occurs at the end of a pier. The sound reaches the other end of the pier by traveling through three media: air, fresh water and a slender metal handrail. The speeds of sound in air, water, and the handrail are 343, 1482, and 5040 m/s. The sound travels a distance of 125 m in each medium. a.) Which medium doe

    distance between the speaker and observer

    A loudspeaker is placed between two observers who are 120 m apart, along the line connecting them. If one observer records a sound level of 60.0 dB and the other records a sound level of 90 dB, how far is the speaker from each observer? (Hint: use the equation given in problem 17.28, page 538 which relates the difference between

    Guitar String Frequency

    A 440.0-Hz tuning fork is sounded together with an out-of-tune guitar and a beat frequency of 3 Hz is heard. When the string is tightened, the frequency at which it vibrates increases, and the beat frequency is heard to decrease. What was the original frequency of the string?