What are Sound Waves & Why Can't We Hear Some?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter amitmis
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SUMMARY

Sound waves are longitudinal waves created by the vibrations of air particles or other mediums. The human ear can only detect sound frequencies within a specific range, meaning that sounds outside this range remain inaudible. This limitation is due to the physiological structure of the ear, which is designed to interpret vibrations within certain frequency thresholds. Understanding these concepts is essential for grasping the nature of sound and its perception.

PREREQUISITES
  • Basic understanding of sound wave physics
  • Familiarity with the concept of frequency and its measurement
  • Knowledge of human auditory anatomy
  • Introduction to wave properties, specifically longitudinal waves
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the range of human hearing frequencies
  • Explore the physics of sound wave propagation in different mediums
  • Learn about the anatomy of the human ear and its function in sound perception
  • Investigate the effects of sound frequency on human health and behavior
USEFUL FOR

Students studying physics, audiologists, sound engineers, and anyone interested in the science of sound and auditory perception.

amitmis
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hi,

first - i want to tell you I'm pretty good at english, but it's not my mother tongue, and i still use babylon dictionary sometimes, to read answers, and questions. so - i'll have to ask you to lower the english level (not so rich language...). thank's.

second - my question - what are sound waves made of?
and why are there sounds that we can't hear?

thank's
amit
 
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Sound waves are vibrations of air particles (or any other medium, technically). Your ear can detect these vibrations and your barin then interprets that as data, which we call sound. The reason there are sounds that's we can't hears is because you ear can only detect frequcies of a certain range. Anything outside that rage, and it won't be detected.
 
Sorry, just want to add the term :redface:; (since no has done so yet)

*Sound waves are longitudinal waves :smile:

composed of subsequent compressions and rarefactions of particles in a medium
 
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