Download Sound and Hearing Study Guide Answer Key What does pitch

Sound and Hearing Study Guide
Answer Key
1. What does pitch describe? Pitch describes how high or low a sound is.
2. How can a guitar string have a higher pitch when plucked? The tighter a string is
stretched, the higher the pitch.
3. What does an object have to do in order to hear a sound? An object would have to
vibrate.
4. Name 3 materials that can absorb sound best: pillows, curtains, and carpets
5. When a sound bounces back to you or is “reflected”, what is that called? It is called an
echo.
6. In order for sound messages to reach the brain, they must travel through what? The
sound must travel through the auditory nerve in order to reach the brain.
7. If you have two tuning forks of different sizes, which size will produce a lower pitch?
The larger tuning form will produce a lower pitch.
8. What part of the ear vibrates when sound reaches it? The eardrum vibrates.
9. Of the instruments listed, which would have the lowest pitch? Highest pitch? Flute,
trumpet, trombone, tenor saxophone
The flute because it is smaller and there is less space for the sound to travel through.
Therefore, the frequency is higher and produces a higher pitch. The trombone would
have the lower pitch than a flute as would a saxophone.
10. When an object vibrates, it produces a sound. If it vibrates quickly, what is the pitch,
high or low?
When a sound vibrates quickly, the pitch will be high. An example is a man’s voice
versus a woman’s voice. A woman’s voice would be higher, and therefore, her vocal
chords would vibrate quicker to make that higher pitch sound.
11. Does sound travel faster through solids or gasses? Why?
Sound travels faster through solids because sound travels faster because they are a
more dense material.
12. Name the small bones in the ear: The small bones in the ear are the hammer, anvil, and
stirrup.
13. Which is faster, the speed of light, or the speed of sound? The speed of light is faster.
14. Can soft sounds cause hearing loss? No, soft sounds cannot cause hearing loss.
15. At what decibel can hearing loss occur? Beginning at 85 decibels, hearing loss can occur.
16. Name two items/sounds that can cause hearing loss: a jet engine, jackhammer, rock
concert
17. The longer the guitar string, the lower the pitch.
18. Hard surfaces do not absorb sound better than soft surfaces.
19. Put the following vocabulary words in order to explain the flow of sound: hammer,
brain, ear canal, ear drum, pinna, anvil, cochlea, stirrup, hairs, auditory nerve
pinna, ear canal, ear drum, hammer, anvil, stirrup, cochlea, hairs, auditory nerve, brain
20. The frequency in sound is measured using hertz.
21. The intensity or loudness of sound is measured using the decibel.
22. Tension is how tight or loosely something is stretched.