Physics As Sound Science

Physics as Sound Science

Talking about sound can be something that many have not even wondered. We talk about how we perceive it, because we know that animals use them to communicate or attract their prey. One thing is the physical definition of sound, and another physiological sensation. A bat is able to detect, capture and swallow many insects while flying in darkness. This happens because it emits waves and he gets carried away by the echo, which, bouncing with the insect, detects and recognizes where he is. These waves are superral frequency and the human ear cannot perceive them. The human being is the only animal that makes combined sounds, so the ability of messages has no limits. But how does the sound travel through the air? Does it also travel through other elements such as water or earth? Do you travel as fast as light? These answers are given by physics. Sound physics is studied by acoustics, which deals with the spread of sound waves and their interaction with physical bodies. Physical acoustics is responsible for the analysis of sound phenomena through physical and mathematical models while psychoacoustics is responsible for the study of sensations evoked by sounds and their various parameters. In this letter we will explore the physical explanations.

But what is physics? Physics is the science that studies the properties of matter and energy and establishes the laws that explain natural phenomena. And what is the sound? Sound is a waveform. It is a sensation or impression produced in the ear by a set of vibrations that spread by an elastic medium, such as air.

The sound can spread for all types of matter, gaseous, solid, liquid. It moves faster in solid, then in liquid, then gas. The reason why it moves faster in a solid is because one of the factors that affects the speed of sound is the density of matter. Since in a gaseous the particles are more remote, because then the sound travels through those particles, and it takes longer to arrive from particle particle.

Another factor that affects the speed of sound is temperature. The more heat, the faster the particles move;The colder, slower move. For that is the reason that water freezes. The movement of the particles affects the speed of sound, the lower the temperature, the slower the sound moves. An example of this can be explained by the series called ‘’ Flash ’’. Flash is a superhero that manages to exceed the speed of sound running. In the series, one of the enemies that gives you the most is "Cold Captain". This character has a gun with the ability to reach extremely low temperatures, causing ‘’ flash ’’ to reduce speed and cannot go at its maximum speed. Of course, this is a fictitious series, and it cannot be used as a valid source of information, but they have a very good way to apply and explain the physics laws and do not move away from reality.

It’s weird, sound moves slower at low temperatures, but, it goes further. The sound wave comes further at low temperature. How is that possible? On a cold day, there is always a hottest layer of air. And it is above the coldest air closest to Earth. The sound wave would normally go in all directions, but the wave is refracted (blocked) by hot air and returned to the earth. Since they are opposite, a slow (cold air) to a fast medium (hot air), basically diverted bouncing to the earth again. So it is heard higher and you could hear, for example, the trafficking further at low temperatures.

There are many myths about sound. A very common question is, if something explodes in space, makes sound? The answer is yes. The sun is an explosion, an immense, continuous explosion, bigger than we can imagine, but we don’t listen to it. Why? Of course, it makes sound, but there is nothing that can load the sound so that we can listen to it, in a vacuum there are no molecules so that a sound travel from the sun to the earth. Another very common question is if you could shout in space. Well, it was very difficult to release a cry before your blood boils, your lungs are completely crushed, etc., But let’s say we throw all that aside, was it possible? Of course, you can shout and possibly spread very, very little, but there are not enough particles for the travel travel, much less to be heard by someone else. So, sadly, laser fights in ‘’ Star Wars ”, were very silent.

When they talk about the speed of sound they talk about it as if it were constant, when, as we speak before, it is not. But in reality, the speed of sound is nothing surprising. It is not really fast, in comparison, if we are going to compare the light with the sound. At a temperature of 68 ° F, the speed of sound is 767 miles per hour. The speed of light in a vacuum is 186,282 miles per second. It is something incomprehensible, at the speed of light you can go around the planet Earth a total of 7.5 times in a second. And with sound, you can literally see the delay with a simple thunder. We see how long it takes to get the sound of thunder after seeing a lightning. Taking into account that lightning is just one third of the speed of light. That makes it even more surprising! It is incredible how big is the difference.

In conclusion, sound physics is a bit complex. But it is interesting to keep it in mind. There are many things that one may not understand at the beginning, but everything has its logic. In my opinion, the most surprising is the difference between light and sound. It is something that one would never imagine, it is already known that there are ‘’ jets ’’ that are going faster than sound, or rockets, and that is measured with the measure called Mach. For example, Mach 2, is twice the speed of sound;Mach 3, is three times the speed of sound and there it continues. But it is impossible to reach the speed of light. Although it would be fascinating, we will have to settle for what we have.