click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
K.L.chapter 21
The nature of sound
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| sound wave | A longitudinal wave that is cause by vibrations and that travels through a material medium. |
| Medium | a physical environment in which phenomena occur. |
| Pitch | a measure of how high or low a sound is perceived to be, depending on the frequency of the sound wave. |
| Loudness | The extent to which a sound can be heard. |
| Doppler effect | An observed change in the frequency of a wave when the source or observer is moving. |
| Decibel | The most common unit used to measure loudness (symbol,dB) |
| Echo | A reflected sound wave. |
| Echolocation | The process of using reflected sound waves to find objects: used by animals such as bats. |
| Interference | The combination of two or more waves that results in a single wave. |
| Sonic boom | The exolsive sound heard when a shock wave from an object traveling faster than the speed of sound reaches a person's ears. |
| Standing wave | A pattern of vibration that simulates a wave that is still standing still. |
| Resonance | A phenomenon that occurs when two objects naturally vibrate at the same frequency; the sound produced by one object causes the other object to vibrate. |
| sound quality | The result of the blending of several pitches through interference. |
| Noise | A sound that consists of a random mix of frequencies. |