Sections
Key Terms
Key Terms
- amplitude
- the amount that matter is disrupted during a sound wave, as measured by the difference in height between the crests and troughs of the sound wave.
- beat
- a phenomenon produced by the superposition of two waves with slightly different frequencies but the same amplitude
- beat frequency
- the frequency of the amplitude fluctuations of a wave
- damping
- the reduction in amplitude over time as the energy of an oscillation dissipates
- decibel
- a unit used to describe sound intensity levels
- Doppler effect
- an alteration in the observed frequency of a sound due to relative motion between the source and the observer
- fundamental
- the lowest-frequency resonance
- harmonics
- the term used to refer to the fundamental and its overtones
- hearing
- the perception of sound
- loudness
- the perception of sound intensity
- natural frequency
- the frequency at which a system would oscillate if there were no driving and no damping forces
- overtones
- all resonant frequencies higher than the fundamental
- pitch
- the perception of the frequency of a sound
- rarefaction
- a low-pressure region in a sound wave
- resonance
- the phenomenon of driving a system with a frequency equal to the system's natural frequency
- resonate
- to drive a system at its natural frequency
- sonic boom
- a constructive interference of sound created by an object moving faster than sound
- sound
- a disturbance of matter that is transmitted from its source outward by longitudinal waves
- sound intensity
- the power per unit area carried by a sound wave
- sound intensity level
- the level of sound relative to a fixed standard related to human hearing