By: Kyle Wittkowski
How sound is used to
communicate
Sound is used to communicate
Without any sound, the world would be quiet
People make sounds to communicate by speaking
from their vocal chords
People speak in different tones and pitches based on
their emotion (ex. A girl screaming at a boy because
he took her toy; this shows high pitch)
Other animals such as dolphins and whales also use
sound to communicate and use echolocation to find
prey
Definitions
Terms to know:
Pitch- The perception of the frequency of a sound and it
describes how high or low the sound seems (Pitch depends on
the frequency; the higher the frequency of a wave, the higher
the pitch, and the lower the frequency of a wave, the lower the
pitch)
Frequency- The number of vibrations that occur per second
Intensity- The amount of energy per second carried through a
unit by a wave (Sound waves of a higher amplitude (the
height), have a greater intensity)
Loudness- Perception of the intensity of a sound wave (the
greater the intensity (the energy), the louder the sound)
The acoustic guitar
This instrument is called a guitar and there are a
variety of different types, but I am only going to be
describing a homemade version of the acoustic
guitar
It is a string instrument, therefore its sounds are
formed from the different strings
The sound is formed by simply plucking the strings
This instrument does not need electricity, unlike the
electric guitar
How its pitch works
The tightness of the string determines the pitch of the
sound because it changes how frequent the strings vibrate
When the string is tighter, it creates more tension making
the string vibrate quicker, creating a higher pitch.
When the string is looser, it creates less tension making
the string vibrate slower, creating a lower pitch
When determining the pitch of the strings sound, you
must look for the frequency of the waves (how frequent it
vibrates) and see if the wave vibrates fast (high) or slow
(low)
How its Volume/Amplitude
works
When you pluck the string softly, the intensity of it is low;
therefore, it sounds soft
When you pluck the string more powerfully, the intensity
is a lot more high, so the sound is a lot louder
When determining the loudness of the instruments
sound, you must look for the amplitude (the height of the
wave) and see if the wave is short (soft) or tall (loud)
How hard you pluck the string determines the volume
because it shows how much energy you’re putting into
the string
Original wave
This is the original sound wave
Sound with higher pitch
- This is the original sound wave from instrument
- This is the higher pitch sound wave from instrument
- The waves frequency is faster making the pitch higher
Sound with lower pitch
- This is the original sound wave from instrument
- This is the lower pitch sound wave from instrument
- The waves frequency is slower making the pitch lower
Sound with a louder
volume
This is the original sound wave from instrument
- This is the louder volume sound wave from instrument
- The waves amplitude is tall making the volume louder
Sound with a lower
volume
- This is the original sound wave from instrument
- This is the softer volume sound wave from instrument
- The waves amplitude is very short making the volume very soft
Cited Sources
http://www.ndted.org/EducationResources/HighSchool/Sound/fre
quencypitch.htm
I also used the notes for the definitions
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