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Chapter 21 Sound Wave

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS
1. When sound waves propagate in air, two particles that are 0.2 m apart vibrate in antiphase. If the speed of
sound in air is 320 m s-1, the frequency of the sound waves is

A 64 Hz B 80 Hz C 800 Hz D 1600 Hz

2. The figure shows a metal wire stretched between two supports P and T which are 4x apart. Three small
pieces of paper are placed at positions Q, R and S.

When the wire is vibrating at a certain frequency, the small piece of paper at R remains on the wire but the
small pieces of paper at Q and S drop off. What is the wavelength of the wave which is produced at the
wire?

Ax B 2x C 4x D 8x

3. The figure shows a sound source S moving away from observer P towards observer Q.

What is the effect of the motion on the wavelength of the sound received by P and by Q?

P Q
A Increases Decreases
B Increases No change
C Decreases Increases
D No change Decreases

4. A cyclist approaches a songbird on a tree at a speed of 10 m s-1. If the bird sings at a frequency of 420 Hz,
what is the frequency heard by the cyclist?

[Speed of sound in air = 343 m s-1]

A 396 Hz B 408 Hz C 432 Hz D 445 Hz

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5. A car sounds its horn and moves towards a large building. The sound of the horn that is reflected from the
building undergoes superposition with the emitted sound. What is the beat frequency heard by the driver of
the car?
[Speed of the car = 10 m s-1, speed of sound = 330 m s-1, original frequency of the horn = 200 Hz]
A 6.06 Hz B 6.25 Hz C 11.8 Hz D 12.5 Hz

6 What is the intensity level of the sound which is 3.0 m away from its point source of power 1.0 x 10-6 W?
[The threshold intensity is 1.0 X 10-12 W m-2.]
A 39 dB B 45 dB C 50 dB D 55 dB
STPM 2013 P3 Q5
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7 A car is travelling on a highway at a speed of 50 km h while an ambulance with its siren on is
approaching head-on. The actual frequency of the siren is 1.0 kHz. If the frequency heard in the car is 1.1
kHz, what is the speed of the ambulance?
[The speed of sound in the air is 330 m s-1.]
A 45 km h-1 B 55 km h-1 C 63 km h-1 D 150 km h-'
STPM 2013 P3 Q6

8 A pipe of length l opens at both ends is shown in the diagram below.

If a stationary sound wave at its fundamental mode is set up in the pipe, which statement is not true of the
motion of particles P, Q and R?
A Particle Q is always stationary.
B Particle P and R are oscillating in phase.
C Particle Q experiences maximum pressure variation.
D Particle P and R are oscillating with maximum amplitude.
STPM 2014 P3 Q4
9 An observer moves with constant speed toward a stationary source producing sound of frequency f. Which
combination of the apparent frequency and the intensity of the sound observed is correct?
Apparent frequency Intensity
A Lower than f Remains unchanged
B Equals to f Increases
C Higher than f Remains unchanged
D Higher than f Increases
STPM 2014 P3 Q5

10 Which phenomenon is due to superposition of sound waves?

A Beats B Refraction C Reflection D The Doppler effect
STPM 2014 P3 Q6

STRUCTURED QUESTIONS
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T
1. (a) The speed of transverse waves in a stretched wire is given by v ,

where T = tension in the wire and
= mass per unit length of the wire. Show that this equation is dimensionally consistent.

(b) The figures (1) and (2) show two possible modes of vibration of the same stretched wire with different
tensions. In figure (1), the vibrational frequency is 20 Hz.

Find
(i) the wavelength in figure (1)
(ii) the speed of the wave in figure (1)
(iii) the wavelength in figure (2)
(iv) the frequency in figure (2)
(v) the mass per unit length of the wire.

2. A toy car with the siren on is approaching a wall at a speed of 2.0 m s1. The siren
produces a sound wave in the form
y (2.5 105 )sin2 (500t 1.4 x )
where x is in metres and t is in seconds. Calculate the speed and frequency of the sound
wave.
[4 marks]
The sound wave is then reflected from the wall. A detector is fixed on the ground behind the source of the
sound wave to detect any frequency changes. Determine the frequencies detected by the detector . Calculate
the beat of sound that is occur.
[3 marks]

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ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. The figure shows the apparatus used in an experiment to study the vibration of a certain length of copper
wire. The end A of the wire is fixed to an oscillator which oscillates up and down with the frequency of a
signal generator. A weight is hung from end B which provides the tension to the wire. When the signal
generator is adjusted to a certain frequency, a stationary wave is produced as shown.

(a) Explain why point X on the wire is stationary.

(b) Compare the movement of the particles of the wire at points P, Q and R.

(c) The length AB of the copper wire used in this experiment is 1.5 m and its cross-sectional area is 0.059
mm2. The tension in the wire is 2.0 N. If the density of copper is 8.9 x 103 kg m-3, calculate the mass per unit
length of the wire. Also show that the lowest frequency to obtain a stationary wave is about 10 Hz. Draw a
diagram to show the displacement profile for this stationary wave.

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