sound wave
Pressure ripple heard
A sound wave is a vibration that travels through air, water, or other materials, carrying the energy we perceive as sound.
Unlike light waves, sound waves require a medium to propagate—they cannot travel through a vacuum.
The wave consists of alternating compressions and rarefactions of molecules, and its properties determine what we hear: frequency affects pitch, amplitude affects loudness.
The sound waves from the explosion shattered windows a mile away.
Rate of recurrence
- amplitudeMaximum oscillation displacement
- hertzFrequency measurement unit
- oscillationRepeated back-and-forth movement
- propagationAct of spreading widely
compression · rarefaction · longitudinal · transverse · velocity · medium · air · pressure
Tenth of a bel
- loudnessPerceived sound intensity
- pitchFrequency of sound
- toneQuality of sound
- timbreSound's distinctive character
resonance · reverberation · echo · absorption · damping · anechoic · acoustician · psychoacoustics
Audio input device
- speakerOne who talks
- transducerEnergy form converter
- amplifierSignal-strengthening electronic device
- headphonesWearable speakers for ears
equalizer · mixer · stereo · mono · recording · playback · digital · analog
Perceiving sound waves
- earAuditory organ
- cochleaSpiral hearing organ
- eardrumInner auditory membrane
- auditoryOf or relating to hearing
listener · audiometry · audiology · threshold · sensitivity · masking · localization · binaural
Inaudible high-frequency waves
- echolocationNavigation through reflected sound
- sonogramUltrasound-produced medical image
- imagingProducing visual representations
- radarRadio-wave object detection
seismology · music · synthesis · oscilloscope · spectrogram · analyzer · signal · transmission
frequency
Rate of recurrence
- amplitudeMaximum oscillation displacement
- hertzFrequency measurement unit
- oscillationRepeated back-and-forth movement
propagation · compression · rarefaction · longitudinal · transverse · velocity · medium · air · pressure · sinusoidal
decibel
Tenth of a bel
timbre · resonance · reverberation · echo · absorption · damping · anechoic · acoustician · psychoacoustics · intensity
microphone
Audio input device
- speakerOne who talks
- transducerEnergy form converter
- amplifierSignal-strengthening electronic device
headphones · equalizer · mixer · stereo · mono · recording · playback · digital · analog · sampling
hearing
Perceiving sound waves
auditory · listener · audiometry · audiology · threshold · sensitivity · masking · localization · binaural · tinnitus
ultrasound
Inaudible high-frequency waves
- echolocationNavigation through reflected sound
- sonogramUltrasound-produced medical image
- imagingProducing visual representations
radar · seismology · music · synthesis · oscilloscope · spectrogram · analyzer · signal · transmission · communication
- wavesripples, wavefront, surf, tsunami, ripple
- wavy patternsundulation, ripple, ripples, serpentine, sinusoidal
- sound productionvibration, resonance, tone color, timbre, pitch control
- sound wavesacoustic energy, amplitude, frequency, hertz, vibration
- fish findersfish finder, echo sounder, depth finder, transducer, flasher
- visualizersvisualizer, audio visualizer, equalizer, oscilloscope, spectrogram
sound waveelectromagnetic radiation
Wave-propagating energy through space
light wave · electromagnetic wave · radio wave · light · visible light
sound, wave, wavy, waver, soundly, resound, wavering, unsound, soundness