Perception of sound

Human ear

For humans, hearing is normally limited to frequencies between about 12 Hz and 20,000 Hz
(20 kHz)[2], although these limits are not definite. The upper limit generally decreases with age.
Other species have a different range of hearing. For example, dogs can perceive vibrations
higher than 20 kHz. As a signal perceived by one of the major senses, sound is used by many
species for detecting danger, navigation, predation,
and communication. Earth'satmosphere, water, and virtually any physical phenomenon, such
as fire, rain, wind, surf, or earthquake, produces (and is characterized by) its unique sounds.
Many species, such as frogs, birds, marine and terrestrial mammals, have also developed
special organs to produce sound. In some species, these have evolved to
produce song and speech. Furthermore, humans have developed culture and technology (such
as music, telephone and radio) that allows them to generate, record, transmit, and broadcast
sound.

[edit]Physics of sound
The mechanical vibrations that can be interpreted as sound are able to travel through all forms
of matter: gases, liquids, solids, and plasmas. The matter that supports the sound is called
the medium. Sound cannot travel through vacuum.

[edit]Longitudinal and transverse waves

Sinusoidal waves of various frequencies; the bottom waves have higher frequencies than those above. The horizontal
axis represents time.

Sound is transmitted through gases, plasma, and liquids as longitudinal waves, also
called compressionwaves. Through solids, however, it can be transmitted as both longitudinal
waves and transverse waves. Longitudinal sound waves are waves of
alternating pressure deviations from the equilibrium pressure, causing local regions
ofcompression and rarefaction, while transverse waves (in solids) are waves of
alternating shear stress at right angle to the direction of propagation.

Matter in the medium is periodically displaced by a sound wave, and thus oscillates. The energy
carried by the sound wave converts back and forth between the potential energy of the
extra compression (in case of longitudinal waves) or lateral displacement strain (in case of
transverse waves) of the matter and the kinetic energy of the oscillations of the medium.

[edit]Sound wave properties and characteristics

Sound waves are often simplified to a description in terms of sinusoidal plane waves, which are
characterized by these generic properties:

 Frequency
 Wavelength
 Wavenumber
 Period
 Amplitude
 Intensity
 Speed
 Direction

Sometimes speed and direction are combined as a velocity vector; wavenumber and direction
are combined as a wave vector.

Transverse waves, also known as shear waves, have the additional property, polarization, and
are not a characteristic of sound waves.

[edit]Speed of sound
U.S. Navy F/A-18 breaking the sound barrier. The white halo is formed by condensed water droplets thought to result
from a drop in air pressure around the aircraft (see Prandtl-Glauert Singularity).[3][4]

Main article: Speed of sound

The speed of sound depends on the medium the waves pass through, and is a fundamental
property of the material. In general, the speed of sound is proportional to the square root of
the ratio of the elastic modulus (stiffness) of the medium to its density. Those physical
properties and the speed of sound change with ambient conditions. For example, the speed of
sound in gases depends on temperature. In 20 °C (68 °F) air at the sea level, the speed of
sound is approximately 343 m/s (1,230 km/h; 767 mph) using the formula "v = (331 + 0.6T)
m/s". In fresh water, also at 20 °C, the speed of sound is approximately 1,482 m/s (5,335 km/h;
3,315 mph). In steel, the speed of sound is about 5,960 m/s (21,460 km/h; 13,330 mph).[5] The
speed of sound is also slightly sensitive (a second-order anharmonic effect) to the sound
amplitude, which means that there are nonlinear propagation effects, such as the production of
harmonics and mixed tones not present in the original sound (see parametric array).

[edit]Acoustics
Main article: Acoustics

The scientific study of the propagation, absorption, and reflection of sound waves is called
acoustics.

[edit]Noise
Main article: Noise

Noise is a term often used to refer to an unwanted sound. In science and engineering, noise is
an undesirable component that obscures a wanted signal.

[edit]Sound pressure level

Main article: Sound pressure
 Sound measurements
Sound pressure p
Sound pressure level (SPL)
Particle velocity v
Sound pressure is the difference, in a given medium, between Particle velocity level (SVL)
average local pressure and the pressure in the sound wave. A    (Sound velocity level)

square of this difference (i.e., a square of the deviation from the Particle displacement ξ
Sound intensity I
equilibrium pressure) is usually averaged over time and/or space,
Sound intensity level (SIL)
and a square root of this average provides a root mean
Sound power Pac
square (RMS) value. For example, 1 Pa RMS sound pressure (94
Sound power level (SWL)
dBSPL) in atmospheric air implies that the actual pressure in the Sound energy density E
sound wave oscillates between (1 atm   Pa) and (1 Sound energy flux q
atm   Pa), that is between 101323.6 and 101326.4 Pa. Such Surface S
a tiny (relative to atmospheric) variation in air pressure at an audio Acoustic impedance Z
frequency is perceived as a deafening sound, and can cause Speed of sound c
v • d • e
hearing damage, according to the table below.

As the human ear can detect sounds with a wide range of amplitudes, sound pressure is often
measured as a level on a logarithmic decibel scale. Thesound pressure level (SPL) or Lp is
defined as

where p is the root-mean-square sound pressure and pref is a reference sound pressure.

Commonly used reference sound pressures, defined in the standard ANSI S1.1-1994,
are 20 µPa in air and 1 µPa in water. Without a specified reference sound pressure, a
value expressed in decibels cannot represent a sound pressure level.

Since the human ear does not have a flat spectral response, sound pressures are
often frequency weighted so that the measured level matches perceived levels more
closely. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has defined several
weighting schemes. A-weighting attempts to match the response of the human ear to
noise and A-weighted sound pressure levels are labeled dBA. C-weighting is used to
measure peak levels.

[edit]Equipment for dealing with sound

Equipment for generating or using sound includes musical instruments, hearing
aids, sonar systems and sound reproduction and broadcasting equipment. Many of
these use electro-acoustic transducers such as microphones and loudspeakers.

[edit]Sound measurement
  Decibel, sone, mel, phon, hertz
 Sound pressure level
 Particle velocity, acoustic velocity
 Particle displacement, particle amplitude, particle acceleration
 Sound power, acoustic power, sound power level
 Sound energy flux
 Sound intensity, acoustic intensity, sound intensity level
 Acoustic impedance, sound impedance, characteristic impedance
 Speed of sound, amplitude

The Science of Sound

Sound is a form of energy.

Try this test. Put your index and middle finger on your neck. Say the word
"Aah" as loud as you can. Then try it as soft as you can. You not only hear a
sound, but you can feel a movement inside your throat. When you say, "Aah",
your vocal cords vibrate. That means they move quickly back and forth. As your
vocal cords vibrate they produce sound.

Sound waves
are compressional waves. 
Use a toy slinky. Stretch it out
between two students. One
student should grab several coils
on the slinky. Then let go. You
will see the group of coils go
across to the other student. Then
come back to the starting
student. Make sure you notice
how the coils stay together. This
is what sound waves do.
 A sound wave moves through matter, such as air, just
like a wave moves through a slinky. 
We have drawn three pictures of a tuning fork to help
you visualize how air molecules might look around a
tuning fork.

Look at tuning fork #1. When the tuning fork is at

tuning fork #1
rest, the fork is surrounded by molecules in the air.

As a tuning fork's prongs move apart because of a

vibration, the molecules ahead of it are crowded
together. (See tuning fork #2). They look like they are
being pushed together. They bump each other.

As a tuning fork's prongs come back together,(see

tuning fork #2 tuning fork #3) it leaves a region that has fewer
molecules than usual.

The region of a sound wave in which the molecules

are crowded together is acompression. The region of a
sound wave in which particles are spread apart is
ararefaction.

As a tuning fork vibrates, it causes molecules in the

tuning fork #3 air to move. The molecules bump into other molecules
nearby, causing them to move. This process continues
from molecule to molecule. The result is a series of
compressions and rarefactions that make up sound
waves.

Unlike light waves, sound waves do not travel through

a vacuum. They need matter to travel. That is why
sound can travel through a wall.

Detecting Sound Waves

by Ron Kurtus (revised 1 December 2009)

Sound waves are detected by the fact that the waves can cause objects to vibrate.
The vibrations from the sound waves must be converted into a signal and then
amplified and processed. Your ear and a microphone are common detectors of
sound.

Questions you may have include:

 How does sound cause vibrations?

 How is sound processed?
 What are some devices to detect sound?

This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the
lesson.

Useful tools: Metric-English Conversion | Scientific Calculator.

Sound causes objects to vibrate

Just as a vibrating object creates sound, thus forming compression waves in air or
some other medium, sound is also detected by the waves causing a back-and-forth
vibration of some object in its path.

What is happening is that the sound in traveling from the air into the object, just
like you can hear sound going through the walls or windows in your house.

Since the vibrations are so small in most situations, you cannot tell that the object
is actually vibrating. However, you can feel how sound can cause other things to
vibrate by standing in front of some loudspeakers when music is being played very
loud. You can actually feel the vibration on your skin and chest.

Loud sounds in a room can cause the windows and even walls to vibrate noticeably
at the frequency of the waveform.

Vibration must be processed

The detection of sound waves requires transferring the vibration it causes into some
sort of signal that can be processed and used.

Feeling the vibration of a wall when loud music is being played in the other room is
detecting the sound, by changing the vibration into signals to your brain from your
sense of touch. But that isn't very useful information.

Your ear or a microphone can convert the vibration into a signal, which can then be
processed into a form that can duplicate or reproduce that sound.

The type of signal that the vibration creates is usually an electrical signal.
Processing can almost duplicate the original sound, except for some distortions.
(See  Reproducing Sounds  for more information.)

Detectors
There are a number of devices used to detect sound. The most common are the ear
and the microphone.

How the ear works

The ear has a small membrane called an eardrum. Sound causes to the membrane
to vibrate, which in turn cause tiny hairs in your inner ear to vibrate, according to
their designated frequency. Each hair sends an electrical impulse to the brain,
where the signals are process and turned into the perception of sound.

(See  Hearing and Sensing Sound  for more information.)

How a microphone works

The most common mechanical detector of sound is the microphone. It has a

membrane that is made to vibrate by the sound. That vibration is changed to
electrical signals, which are then sent to a processor or electronic circuitry for
amplification or such.

The electrical signal can then be sent to a loudspeaker to create sound at a greater
volume, to a tape recorder, or to send out radio or TV signals.

(See  Magnetism for more about how a microphone works.)

Summary
Sound waves can cause some objects to vibrate, allowing for detection of the
sound. The vibrations from the sound waves must be converted into a signal—
usually an electrical signal—and then amplified and processed. Your ear and a
microphone are common detectors of sound.
Science of Sound - Part 1

This is the first part in a multipart series exploring the immense power of Sound, its science and the association of
sound and theology. Each month, let us try to delve deeper and understand at least one aspect of Sound energy and
try reaping its positive potential to bring peace and positivity to planet earth. Before diving into the source or
fountainhead of this knowledge, first lets just get our feet wet and see what it is all about.

Every culture has its own form of sonic mysticism. Gospel music manifests the spiritual power of sound, as do
symphony orchestras, Hebrew cantos, Sufi Qawwali singers, Siberian shamans, Benedictine monks, Tibetan Gyuto
choir or the Vedic mantras. There have been several works that tried to explore this fathomless source of energy of
sound. Probably innumerable PhD thesis can be written to fully describe the capabilities of Sound energy.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. - Holy Bible, John 1:1
The holy Bible and several sacred scriptures in all religions place a significant emphasis on the how sound was
responsible for creation (though the manner in which they are described may be metaphoric at times). The Hindu
scriptures say the source of all existence of the universe started with the sound of AUM. It is believed that the whole
universe, in its fundamental form,  is made up of vibrating, pulsating energy. Aum is considered as the humming
sound of this cosmic energy.  The cosmic existence of sound, its expression in the rhythmic order of the origin and
vivid manifestation of Nature, and its spiritual expansion in consciousness are dealt in the Vedas under the
knowledge of Sabda Brahm– Nada Brahm.
Is sound really the basis of the universe?
Today it might have become only a medium of entertainment for many because of their ignorance but the fact
remains that music is a faculty of divine serenity and power. Our cosmos consists of the sound waves in all
frequency ranges,  beyond the grasp of our audio sensors and even beyond the limits of our imagination. Saints and
Seers have always said that the sonic vibrations of each spoken or mentally thought syllable exist in the universe
forever.  Some frontline researchers of the modern science of sound hope that further advancement of science and
technology would one day enable recording the voices (of the sages of yore) in the omnipresent ‘ocean’ of ether.
Modern science has been slowly discovering that vibration does indeed create form and is the source of the universe.
Though science is discovering this aspect at the material level, they are yet to find out it holds true at different
dimensions manifestations and thoughts as well.

Hans Jenny a Swiss engineer and a medical doctor performed several experiments using sound frequencies on
various materials such as water, sand, dust, liquid plastic and milk. Dr Jenny placed the material on a metal plate
attached to a crystal oscillator which was controlled by a frequency generator capable of producing a wide range of
vibrations.  He then filmed and photographed what happened on the plate. He termed this new science Cymatics.
Some of the beautiful images he obtained are shown below:

Cy
Cymatic Sand Patterns

 Dr Jenny invented a machine called a Tonoscope which allowed a human voice to vibrate the plate directly.  He had
a voice sing AUM into a microphone and the result was stunning. The image observed was strikingly similar to the
famous Sri Chakra mandala.

Cymatic Sri Ch
Sri Chakra

Watch the video below to see the physics of sound creating form. With different tonal frequencies on a tonoscope
different forms are manifested.
Science of Sound - Part 2

This is the second part of the series on the science of sound. In part 1 we pondered on the  question if sound is really
the basis of this universe. Also we learnt about this new exciting field of studying the science of "vibration creating
form" known as cymatics. Hans Jenny, the pioneer of this science, scientifically went on to show that particles on a
vibrating membrane when tuned to a certain frequency began creating form which could possibly explain the
creation of planets, galaxies and possibly humans.

But as is often the case, there are skeptics for any new theory unless there is a basis of a strong theoretical
framework backed up by experimental evidence. That is exactly where the world of physics is currently being turned
upside down. Physicist now are dumbfound that there indications that there are more dimensions in space (as many
as 11) than the 4 dimensions that we are aware of (3 dimensions of space and time). However the most striking
discoveries that are being made in Theoretical Physics is that the universe is made of vibrating strands of energy
known as strings and this theory known as string theory strives to explain the way why the universe is the way it is
and how it brings about the Unified field theory that Einstein strived for 30 years. This also is the basis for the
philosophy of Nada Brahma or the model of sound as the basis for the universe propounded by mystics from India
thousands of years ago.

Genius of Einstein and the mysteries of the quantum world

Before delving further into this topic, lets back up and little bit and see how physics in the early 20th century
underwent a revolution because a quiet patent clerk from Germany.  We all know Albert Einstein for the famous
E=M(c)^2 equation which was just one of his contributions. His influence was profound i many more ways as to
how we think about the universe and about the concept of space and time. Since we are talking only about the
science of sound here, lets limit our discussion to his theory of General Relativity. General Theory of Relativity (not
to be confused with Special theory of relativity) combined gravity with spacetime. In simplistic terms, the theory
proves that space can be stretched, warped or bent provided there is sufficient mass.
Einstein said that the whole universe can be thought of existing on a spacetime fabric, that is, any event can be
described as a particular point in space at a given time. The figure below describes his equations in an elegant
manner how bodies in the universe exist and without going into the complex mathematics, this explains
gravity geometrically. This appealed immensely with cosmologists by explaining passages of time, geometry of
space and the propagation of light.

Spacetime fabric of Einstein

However in late 1920s there was this new science of the microscopic world that collided with Einstein's theory head
on. It was called Quantum physics. The world of subatomic particles acted in a crazy wild way. Scientists like Neils
Bohr and Heisenberg showed that there is no way we can accurately predict how and where a subatomic particle
exists. We could only predict its probability of it being there and there was a probability that it could also exist at
two places at the same time. The universe of subatomic particles was extremely jittery and noisy.

The Science of Sound

Our hearing is one of our most important senses, necessary for basic communication, speech and
awareness. But have you ever stopped to think; what exactly is sound? And how do our ears actually
work? 

Sound is caused by something emitting energy in the form of a vibration. Areas of high and low pressure
move outwards creating a form of longitudinal wave (a wave which vibrates in the direction of travel).
The amplitude (volume) and frequency (pitch) of the sound wave depends on what the source is and
the amount of energy supplied outwards.

This picture shows how sound waves move through the air from the
source, a bit like a ripple in a lake. You can clearly see the areas of
high and low pressure moving as the sound travels. 
But how do we sense and process these sound waves? That’s the job of our ears. The ear is an
extremely clever organ, consisting of a collection of tiny bones, tubes and membranes (namely the ear
drum) which process the sound and send it to the brain. The funnel-like shape of the ear is effective at
collecting the sound wave and filtering it through the ear passage, where it causes vibrations of the ear
drum. The signal is gradually converted into an electrical signal by the rest of the ear, and this is then
sent to the brain. 

Many species use sound, not only to communicate but to assess the nature of their surroundings,
dependant on the way they interact with emitted sound waves. For example, if you screamed in a
large, empty room, the sound of your voice would sound a lot different than if you were to make the
same noise in a smaller furnished room. Studying the interaction of sound waves with certain materials
can tell scientists a lot of information about that material. 

Ultrasound is another important area of study, especially in construction and medicine. High frequency
sound waves are sent through the area of interest, for example the human body or an iron girder, and
the waves that are reflected back to the receiver tell us about the internal structure of the object. 

This amazing ultrasound picture of an unborn child shows the amazing

things we can achieve using the power of sound waves! 

This wonderfully weird concert hall

is designed specifically to create the best quality sound environment
possible. 

So next time you hear a baby cry or a police siren, think about the
clever science behind those sound waves! 
 Crazy world of Quantum Physics

Einstein did not like this behavior of the subatomic particles and went about searching for a theory that would bind
the two worlds of the microscopic and the macroscopic. In fact, later in his career he became a recluse and spent
almost 30 years of his career searching for an answer. He did come close but did not succeed.

String theory - science or philosophy?

Starting late 1960s and after a flurry of activity in the 90s, physicists strived to combine these two worlds by
developing a new framework called string theory. This is where things get interesting. They say that everything in
the universe is elegant and is basically composed of vibrating strands of energy called strings. Just like sound from a
musical instrument like a violin vibrates at a fixed note, different strings vibrate at different rates to form different
substances. For example strings in a rock vibrate at a different frequency than strings in a desk. In fact, we humans
are also made up of these cosmic strings and vibrate at a specific frequency.

String theory also predicts the existence of several additional dimensions (see the first figure at the starting of this
blog) of space. In essence this comes increasingly close to what mystics from India have always described since
ages. Modern science has been converging with the ideas espoused by spirituality for the past few decades. The lines
between what is science and what is philosophy are being blurred and fading.  

Mantras - Divine Sound

The Indian philosophy and science of spirituality describes a unique cosmic energy – the Supreme Consciousness, as
immanent in every form of life and physical energy. This omnipresent subliminal energy is said to have generated
from Divine Sound (Nada). The eternal source of this cosmic sound is Om. According to the ancient philosophy of
mysticism,  Sound is eternal and is the fundamental perpetual force that effectuated the creation of the universe. The
blueprint of any event that is going to happen anywhere in the cosmic expansion first occurs in the form of the
vibrations of sound.

Spiritual scientists were able to ‘perceive’ these subliminal vibrations and could therefore ‘visualize’ the future
events with ease. The sole aim of their experiments with the mantras was – cognition of the absolute truth and using
its ultimate knowledge for divine illumination of the world. They identified sound as effective modes of linkage
between the individual consciousness in the mortal world and the divine realms of supreme consciousness.

Our body is defined in the ancient scriptures as a manifestation of specific reactions of sound (Sabda). With this
perceptions, the rhythmic cascade of bodily functions could be termed as a bio-swing, moving according to the set
frequency (like that of a radio) of Sabda. When all the components of this gigantic ‘sonic’ device of our body (and
mind) are harmonized, we are in fine health and mood and work in perfection according to its natural frequency.

In the next part let us look at the finer aspects of the power of mantras and how certain sounds affect the human
physiology, mind and the key to cognize them to reach out to Divine consciousness.