A sperm whale vocalizes by producing a series of clicks. Actually, the whale makes only a single sound near the front of its head to start the series. Part of that sound then emerges from the head into the water to become the first click of the series. The rest of the sound travels backward through the spermaceti sac (a body of fat), reflects from the frontal sac (an air layer), and then travels forward through the spermaceti sac.When it reaches the distal sac (another air layer) at the front of the head, some of the sound escapes into the water to form the second click, and the rest is sent back through the spermaceti sac (and ends up forming later clicks). a strip-chart recording of a series of clicks. A unit time interval of 1.0 ms is indicated on the chart. Assuming that the speed of sound in the spermaceti sac is 1372 m/s, find the length of the spermaceti sac. From such a calculation, marine scientists estimate the length of a whale from its click series.
Properties of sound
A sound wave is a mechanical wave (or mechanical vibration) that transit through media such as gas (air), liquid (water), and solid (wood).
Quality Of Sound
A sound or a sound wave is defined as the energy produced due to the vibrations of particles in a medium. When any medium produces a disturbance or vibrations, it causes a movement in the air particles which produces sound waves. Molecules in the air vibrate about a certain average position and create compressions and rarefactions. This is called pitch which is defined as the frequency of sound. The frequency is defined as the number of oscillations in pressure per second.
Categories of Sound Wave
People perceive sound in different ways, like a medico student takes sound as vibration produced by objects reaching the human eardrum. A physicist perceives sound as vibration produced by an object, which produces disturbances in nearby air molecules that travel further. Both of them describe it as vibration generated by an object, the difference is one talks about how it is received and other deals with how it travels and propagates across various mediums.
A sperm whale vocalizes by producing a
series of clicks. Actually, the whale makes only a single sound near
the front of its head to start the series. Part of that sound then
emerges from the head into the water to become the first click of
the series. The rest of the sound travels backward through the
spermaceti sac (a body of fat), reflects from the frontal sac (an air
layer), and then travels forward through the spermaceti sac.When
it reaches the distal sac (another air layer) at the front of the head,
some of the sound escapes into the water to form the second click,
and the rest is sent back through the spermaceti sac (and ends up
forming later clicks).
a strip-chart recording of a series of clicks.
A unit time interval of 1.0 ms is indicated on the chart. Assuming
that the speed of sound in the spermaceti sac is 1372 m/s, find
the length of the spermaceti sac. From such a calculation, marine
scientists estimate the length of a whale from its click series.
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