Although the vocal tract is quite complicated, we can make a simple model of it as an open-closed tube extending from the opening of the mouth to the diaphragm, the large muscle separating the abdomen and the chest cavity. What is the length of this tube if its fundamental frequency equals a typical speech frequency of 200 Hz? Assume a sound speed of 350 m/s. Does this result for the tube length seem reasonable, based on observations on your own body?
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.
Although the vocal tract is quite complicated, we can make a simple model of it as an open-closed tube extending from the opening of the mouth to the diaphragm, the large muscle separating the abdomen and the chest cavity. What is the length of this tube if its fundamental frequency equals a typical speech frequency of 200 Hz? Assume a sound speed of 350 m/s. Does this result for the tube length seem reasonable, based on observations on your own body?
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