Sound And Hearing

You may have heard many sounds in the environment. Some of them are sounds of animals, human voices, noise of horns etc. But have you ever wondered how these sounds produce? So let’s study about that.

 

How sounds produce?

Sound is produced by vibrating something. The objects that produce sound are called sources of sound. Animals, various types of objects, musical instruments are examples for sources of sounds. We can produce sounds in different ways.

• Tap the desk with a pen or a pencil.
• Clap your hands.
• Put some marbles or some green gram into a yogurt cup and shake it.
• Crush a piece of paper with hand.
• Burst a balloon.

Hearing of Sounds

Now let’s find out how do we hear sounds.

Ask your friend to close his/her ears and beat a drum. Then ask whether he/she could hear the sound clearly. Then ask your friend to open and close his/her ears while listening to the sound of the drum. Ask him/her whether he/she noticed any difference in hearing when the ears are opened and closed. Now, you can understand that when the ears are closed, you can’t hear the sound of the drum. We can hear the sound of the drum only when the sound enters to our ear.

Therefore ear is the organ which senses sound. Ear lobes help to direct the sound into the ear.

Diversity of Sounds

Some sounds that we hear in the environment are produced naturally. For example:

• Sound of wind, waterfall, birds
• Barking of a dog

And also there are artificial sounds that are made by man using equipment.

• Sound of a car, school bell, aeroplane
• Guitar sound

Music and Noise

Sounds that are sung or played rhythmically are known as music. But when the sound of music is increased, it too can be a disturbance. For example;

• Sound created by violin, flute

Sounds that are not rhythmic are known as noise. For example;

• Noise of traffic, machines in a factory, noise in a fair

Musical Instruments

There are three main types of musical instruments.

String instruments	Musical instruments that generate sound by the vibrations of a stretched string
Beating instruments	Instruments generating sound by the vibration of stretched membrane, metal rods or metal plates
Wind instruments	Instruments which generate sound by the vibrations of air columns

 

Listening to loud sounds is a disturbance. Those sounds are also a disturbance to others. We must use television, radio, loud speakers and other equipment without disturbing others. It is our duty and responsibility to use sounds without disturbing others.