Sound: pitch, loudness, timbre, and resonance

Sound is a longitudinal mechanical wave. Its pitch, how high or low it sounds, is set by its frequency: people with healthy hearing detect roughly 20 to 20,000 hertz, and a higher frequency means a higher pitch. Loudness depends on intensity, the power a sound wave carries through each square meter, which falls off as you move away from the source. Because the ear responds to an enormous range of intensities, sound level is measured on the logarithmic decibel (dB) scale, where every increase of 10 dB means ten times the intensity. Normal conversation is about 60 dB, and long exposure to sounds above about 85 dB can damage hearing. A vibrating string produces a lowest, fundamental frequency plus higher harmonics at whole-number multiples of it (a pipe closed at one end produces only the odd multiples). The mix of harmonics gives each instrument or voice its own timbre, or tone quality, which is why a violin and a flute playing the same note sound different. Resonance happens when an object is driven at its own natural frequency, so its vibrations grow large. Resonance lets a guitar's body and an organ pipe strengthen their sound, and a strong enough sound at a wine glass's natural frequency can even shatter it.

This explanation is AI-generated and can occasionally be wrong.

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