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Year 10 - Science

Human hearing

Measuring waves

Unit Summary

This unit covers wave motion, including amplitude, wavelength, frequency, and velocity. It explains transverse and longitudinal waves, reflection, and absorption. The focus is on measuring wave speed, and sound interactions, applying formulas, and conducting accurate experiments.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to describe how the human ear detects sound and explain why there are limits to human hearing.

Key Notes

  • Human hearing involves the transmission of sound waves through different parts of the ear.
  • Wave transmission to a new medium can be limited by the wave amplitude or the wave frequency.
  • The range of human hearing is 20 Hz to 20 000 Hz. Frequencies above and below this are called ultrasound and infrasound.
  • The highest frequency you can hear reduces with age as cells of the cochlea and auditory nerve become damaged over time.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • transmit: Waves are transmitted when they pass across a boundary from one material (medium) into another.
  • ear drum: The eardrum is a membrane within the ear that is caused to vibrate by incoming sound waves.
  • cochlea: The cochlea is a spiral-shaped structure within the ear that creates electrical signals when set vibrating.
  • infrasound: Sound waves of frequency below 20 Hz usually cannot be heard by humans, so are called infrasound.
  • ultrasound: Sound waves of frequency above 20 000 Hz usually cannot be heard by humans, so are called ultrasound.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Sound waves somehow "are" the sounds you hear.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.

Human hearing involves the transmission of sound waves through different parts of the ear. Wave transmission to a new medium can be limited by the wave amplitude or the wave frequency.

2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'transmit'

Waves are transmitted when they pass across a boundary from one material (medium) into another. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.

3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.

Mistake: Sound waves somehow "are" the sounds you hear. Correction: The sensation of hearing sound (what you hear) is a different thing to what a sound wave is (longitudinal oscillations of particles).

More Lessons In This Unit

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