Sound Puzzles
Explore your understanding of the production of sound, loudness, pitch, and quality with these puzzles! Click the buttons to reveal hints and answers.
Puzzle 1: What causes sound to be produced in a musical instrument?
It involves vibrations.
Sound is produced by the vibration of a string, air column, or surface in the instrument.
Puzzle 2: What determines the loudness of a sound?
It depends on the energy of the sound wave.
The loudness of a sound is determined by the amplitude of the sound wave.
Puzzle 3: What property of sound determines its pitch?
It’s related to how fast the vibrations occur.
The pitch of a sound is determined by its frequency.
Puzzle 4: Why does a thicker guitar string produce a lower pitch?
Think about mass and vibrations.
Thicker strings vibrate more slowly, producing a lower frequency and lower pitch.
Puzzle 5: What does the quality of a sound depend on?
It’s related to wave form ( overtones and harmonics).
The quality of sound depends on the waveform, which includes the fundamental tone and overtones.
Puzzle 6: How does a sound wave travel through air?
Think about compressions and rarefactions.
Sound waves travel through air as a series of compressions and rarefactions.
Puzzle 7: What will happen to the pitch of a sound if the frequency is doubled?
Higher frequency means a higher sound.
If the frequency is doubled, the pitch becomes higher by one octave.
Puzzle 8: Why does the loudness of a sound decrease as you move farther away from the source?
Consider the distribution of energy over distance.
As the distance increases, the sound energy spreads over a larger area, reducing loudness.
Puzzle 9: What property of sound makes it possible to distinguish between a piano and a violin playing the same note?
It’s related to the unique waveforms produced by each instrument.
The quality (timbre) of sound makes it possible to distinguish between instruments.
Puzzle 10: What happens to the loudness of a sound if its amplitude is tripled?
Loudness depends on the square of the amplitude.
The loudness increases ninefold because loudness is proportional to the square of the amplitude.
