Sound is produced by a rapid variation in the average density or pressure of air

molecules above and below the current atmospheric pressure. We perceive sound as
these pressure fluctuations cause our eardrums to vibrate. When discussing sound,
these usually minute changes in atmospheric pressure are referred to as sound
pressure and the fluctuations in pressure as sound waves. Sound waves are
produced by a vibrating body, be it an oboe reed, loudspeaker cone or jet engine. The
vibrating sound source causes a disturbance to the surrounding air molecules, causing
them to bounce off each other with a force proportional to the disturbance.

The physics of sound (acoustics) is often confused with the way in which we perceive it
(psychoacoustics). This chapter begins with a study of sound’s physical
characteristics and common measurements, followed by a discussion of human aural
and musical perception.

All musicians work with sound in one fashion or another, yet most have little
understanding of its properties. Computer musicians, in particular, can benefit in myriad
ways from an understanding of the mechanisms of sound, its objective measurements
and the more subjective area of its perception. Not only is this understanding crucial to
the proper use of common studio equipment and music software, but novel
compositional strategies can be derived from exploiting much of the information
contained in this chapter. One would expect a painter to know about the properties of
paint—the same should hold true for the composer’s understanding of acoustics and
psychoacoustics.

Acoustics is defined as the science that deals with the production, control, transmission,
reception, and effects of sound (as defined by Merriam-Webster). Many people
mistakenly think that acoustics is strictly musical or architectural in nature. While
acoustics does include the study of musical instruments and architectural spaces, it also
covers a vast range of topics, including: noise control, SONAR for submarine
navigation, ultrasounds for medical imaging, thermoacoustic refrigeration, seismology,
bioacoustics, and electroacoustic communication. Below is the so called "Lindsay's
Wheel of Acoustics", created by R. Bruce Lindsey. This wheel describes the scope of
acoustics starting from the four broad fields of Earth Sciences, Engineering, Life
Sciences, and the Arts. The outer circle lists the various disciplines one may study to
prepare for a career in acoustics. The inner circle lists the fields within acoustics that the
various disciplines naturally lead to.
Untold benefits of acoustics in architecture
https://www.soundzipper.com/blog/acoustic-applications-part2/

In Hospitals

Imagine that you are a doctor, communicating to a nurse the right amount of medicine
to be administered to a patient through injection. The environment is in chaos, with
beeping sounds from heart rate monitors, squeaks from passing carts, and the boomy
resonance of endless chattering. With this amount of distraction in the background,
what are the chances of you making an error? In one instance, an anaesthesiologist
misunderstood a surgeon’s instruction to administer a drug by an error of 8,000 units
due to loud musicᵃ. While enforcing regulations can prevent such devastating mistakes,
acoustic applications can go a long way in addressing unwanted ambient noise. Most
hospitals have hard floors and ceilings which readily reflect sounds, drastically
increasing noise levels in an area full of beeping equipment and alarms. Reducing this
problem could be a simple matter of replacing hard tiles with sound absorbing ones. A
studyᵇ in 2004 noted that by replacing just the ceiling tiles, patients could sleep more
easily and reported better nursing care. More effort can be put into hospital architectural
design to reduce noise transmission through room walls or flanking paths. Doing so can
aid patients to rest and recovery, while bringing down the stress levels of the medical
staff.

In Schools

Teachers face relentless amounts of noise throughout their careers, always having to
sustain a volume higher than that of students and ambient noise. In rooms with poor
acoustic applications, reverberation off the walls amplify the the slightest whispers of
students, increasing the noise floor. This leads to an increased frequency of
reprimanding which takes away from the main goals of the institution. Students too are
not spared. Excessively long reverb times in classrooms have led to as much as a 50%
loss in intelligibility in one studyᶜ. This impacts the ability for students to concentrate and
make the most out of their time in school. By installing acoustic absorbers in
classrooms, speech intelligibility can be increased dramatically. One researchᵈ shows
that classroom refurbishment improved reverberation time and speech intelligibility,
even meeting standards for integrative schooling of children with speech impairment.
Quality of education can be enhanced simply by taking acoustics into account.

Health and Well Being

Noise from neighbours can be a source of stress and annoyance. The exposure of
excessive noise to pregnant mothers has been shown to cause high rates of birth
defectsᵉ. A studyᶠ in Germany on acoustics in schools shows that the heart rate of
teachers has a near direct co-relation with noise levels, and suggest that excessive
noise levels has negative effects on cardiovascular health.

Conclusion

As shown, acoustic applications have significant effects on our health and well-being.
These problems cannot be completely resolved by modifying behaviors. Therefore,
acoustic considerations when designing architecture can serve an important role in
increasing not just our productivity – but also our well-being and quality of life.
 acousticians
 An acoustical engineer can design transducers such as microphones, earphones, and
loudspeakers.
 A bioacoustician might research bird populations to determine whether or not man-
made noise changes their behavior.
 An audiologist can diagnose hearing impairments.
 A hearing scientist can conduct research about hearing loss prevention.
 An architectural acoustician could design an opera house so that people in the
audience can enjoy the music to the fullest.
 A noise specialist could do work to reduce noise caused by airplanes, cars and trains.
 An underwater acoustician might design sophisticated sonar hardware to explore the
ocean floor.
 A biomedical acoustician could develop medical equipment to destroy kidney stones.