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11th grade Sound: speed, pitch and loudness worksheet

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Sound: speed, pitch and loudness

Grade 11 Science Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.

  1. A speaker measures 100 dB at 1 m. Sound spreads evenly, so intensity falls with the square of distance. What level is heard at 10 m, to the nearest dB, Ari?

  2. A speaker measures 94 dB at 2 m. Sound spreads evenly, so intensity falls with the square of distance. What level is heard at 20 m, to the nearest dB, Bo?

  3. A speaker measures 88 dB at 1 m. Sound spreads evenly, so intensity falls with the square of distance. What level is heard at 4 m, to the nearest dB, Esme?

  4. A sound's pressure amplitude doubles. Intensity goes with amplitude squared. By about how much does the level rise, Jun?

    • About 3 dB
    • About 6 dB
    • About 10 dB
    • About 12 dB

  5. A 70 dB sound and a 60 dB sound are played together. About what level results, Kira?

    • About 130 dB, since the two levels add together
    • About 80 dB, since 70 + 10 is 80
    • About 70 dB, since the louder sound dominates
    • About 65 dB, the average of the two

  6. Read this first

    Speed of sound in air (example data, rounded)

    Air temperature (°C)Speed (m/s)
    0331
    40355

  7. Noah hears a clap's echo 0.50 s later on a 0 °C day and 0.50 s later on a 40 °C day. Which cliff is farther, and by how much?

    • The 40 °C cliff, by about 12 m
    • The 0 °C cliff, by about 6 m
    • They are the same distance, since the delays are equal
    • The 40 °C cliff, by about 6 m

  8. Pia stands 200 m from a hammer blow on a long steel pipe. Sound travels at 5940 m/s in the steel and 343.3 m/s in air. What is heard?

    • Both sounds together, since the start is the same
    • The steel sound first, about 0.55 s ahead of the air sound
    • The air sound first, about 0.55 s ahead of the steel sound that follows it
    • The steel sound first, about 0.58 s ahead

  9. A guitar string vibrates at 220 Hz. Ren presses it at its midpoint, so half its length vibrates. What is the new frequency?

    • 220 Hz, since the tension is unchanged
    • 880 Hz
    • 440 Hz
    • 110 Hz

  10. A string vibrates at 220 Hz. Tala makes its tension 9 times as large. Wave speed goes with the square root of tension. What is the new frequency?

    • 1,980 Hz
    • 73 Hz
    • 440 Hz
    • 660 Hz

  11. Zee hears 3 beats each second between a 440 Hz fork and a guitar string. What could the string's frequency be?

    • 437 Hz, since the string must be lower than the fork
    • Either 437 Hz or 443 Hz
    • 443 Hz, since the string must be higher than the fork
    • 1,320 Hz, three times the fork's frequency
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11th grade Sound: speed, pitch and loudness worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Sound: speed, pitch and loudness. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can add decibel levels for many identical sources (10 × log of the number), and find the level at a new distance when intensity falls with the square of distance.
  • I can read frequency from a microphone trace (cycles ÷ time) and say what a taller trace means (amplitude squared is intensity).
  • I can use speed of sound in air, water and steel, find wavelengths, and find the gap between two arrivals.
  • I can use NIOSH's 3 dB rule for safe listening time, and strings, beats and equal-temperament semitones.

Standard: HS-PS4-1

Words to know

pitch: How high or low a sound is; set by frequency

loudness: How strong a sound seems; grows with amplitude

decibel (dB): A unit for sound level; 10 dB more is 10 times the intensity

intensity: The power of a sound wave over an area

ultrasound: Sound above about 20,000 Hz, too high for people to hear

octave: A doubling of frequency; the note sounds like the same note, higher

beats: The slow rise and fall in loudness when two close frequencies sound together

exposure limit: Longest safe listening time at a given sound level

Common mistakes

Your child added the logarithm without the factor of ten. Each tenfold increase in intensity adds 10 dB, so 100 sources add 20 dB.

Your child used the distance ratio instead of its square. Intensity falls with the square of distance, so the level drops 20 times the log of the distance ratio.

Your child used only the air speed. The gap comes from the difference between the air time and the steel time.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with sound: speed, pitch and loudness?

Your child added the logarithm without the factor of ten. Each tenfold increase in intensity adds 10 dB, so 100 sources add 20 dB.

Are these 11th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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