Sound diffraction
Image
Graphic:
Diffraction is a typical feature of sound waves when they meet an obstacle.
English, Spanish (CREA), German
2018-04-22
This medium is made available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 international license.
What does this mean?
How to reference this medium
The diffraction of sound waves is a physical mechanism which ensures the entry of sound waves into acoustic shadows.
That means the sound is audible in areas which are cut off from the direct sound incidence, such as behind obstacles.
Information and ideas:
Diffraction of light can be proved when a parallel ray beam of monochrome light is directed at a narrow opening. A screen set up behind the opening gives us a diffraction figure (bright and dark stripes that lose intensity the further outwards they are). With sound, a direct reference to the students' everyday world is even easier: Why can you hear noise from a street in front of a building even when you are behind the building?
Further information about this graphic is provided as an information sheet on the media portal of the Siemens Stiftung.
Relevant for teaching:
Sound/acoustics: parameters
Vibrations and waves
That means the sound is audible in areas which are cut off from the direct sound incidence, such as behind obstacles.
Information and ideas:
Diffraction of light can be proved when a parallel ray beam of monochrome light is directed at a narrow opening. A screen set up behind the opening gives us a diffraction figure (bright and dark stripes that lose intensity the further outwards they are). With sound, a direct reference to the students' everyday world is even easier: Why can you hear noise from a street in front of a building even when you are behind the building?
Further information about this graphic is provided as an information sheet on the media portal of the Siemens Stiftung.
Relevant for teaching:
Sound/acoustics: parameters
Vibrations and waves
There are no other media directly related to this file.
Illustration
Physics
Grade 7 to 9; Grade 10 to 13
Middle/high school; Vocational training
Chart; Optics; Sound; Wave (physics); Diffraction; Graphics; Sound (basic phenomenon); Sound propagation; Sound wave
Siemens Stiftung Media Portal
MediaHouse GmbH
© Siemens Stiftung 2018
