Investigating How Sound Waves Relate to Hearing

A sound wave that bounces back toward its source and is heard again is called

• a compression

• a wavelength

• timbre

• an echo

What causes sound?

• Light

• Heat

• Vibrations

• Electricity

A type of wave that vibrates and sends waves of energy through a medium to our ears.

• electromagnetic

• light

• sound

• ocean

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What happens to sound waves when they encounter a solid barrier?

• They speed up.

• They stop completely.

• They can be reflected or absorbed.

• They change into light waves.

Which of the following is true about sound waves?

• They are faster in solids than in gases.

• They are faster in gases than in liquids.

• They can only travel through air.

• They are always transverse waves.

What is the effect of increasing the amplitude of a sound wave?

• The sound becomes softer

• The sound becomes louder

• The pitch becomes higher

• The pitch becomes lower

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What is the term for the back and forth motion that creates sound?

• Rotation

• Vibration

• Translation

• Oscillation

Why do sound waves travel faster in warmer air compared to colder air?

• The air particles move faster and collide more often in warmer air.

• The air particles are closer together in warmer air.

• The air particles are more elastic in warmer air.

• The air particles carry more energy in colder air.

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We can describe sounds by qualities like pitch and volume. But how do people hear sounds? The ears collect sounds and send them to the brain. The outer ear is the part of the ear that is visible. Its job is to collect sound waves and direct them to the middle ear. The eardrum, which separates the outer ear from the middle ear, is a thin piece of skin stretched tight that vibrates when sound waves reach it. From there, three small bones, the tiniest bones in the body, send the sound waves along to the inner ear. When the last bone hits the cochlea in the inner ear, fluid inside the cochlea moves. This movement causes the hearing nerve to carry a message to the brain. Based on this passage, which of the following is an accurate summary of how people hear sounds?

• A sound is passed from the outer ear to the middle ear and then to the inner ear as a vibration. In the inner ear, the vibration causes a series of movements ending in fluid motion that triggers a nerve to carry a message to the brain.

• A sound is collected by the ear drum and sent to the cochlea where it is converted into a nerve signal. Fluid carries that signal to the brain.

• A sound is collected by the outer ear and sent to the cochlea as a nerve signal. The signal is processed by fluid in the cochlea as the sound a person hears.

• A sound is passed from the inner ear to the middle ear and then to the outer ear, where the eardrum vibrates. This vibration triggers the brain to send a signal to a nerve.

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Which part of the ear amplifies sound vibrations?

• Outer ear

• Middle ear

• Inner ear

• Ear canal