Noll taps a drum softly, then strikes it hard. The hard strike is the one you hear across the room.
The two strikes swing the drumhead through different distances, so the two sound waves differ in amplitude. This lesson names what that difference does to what you hear.
The soft tap swings the drumhead a small distance, and the sound wave it makes has a small amplitude.
The hard strike swings the drumhead farther, and its sound wave has a larger amplitude.
How strong a sound seems to a listener is called the sound's loudness.
The hard strike's sound, the larger-amplitude wave, is the louder one.
Decreasing the amplitude makes the sound quieter.
Amplitude and frequency do separate jobs. Striking the drum harder makes a louder sound, not a higher one: the frequency is unchanged, so the pitch stays where it was.
Ottoline plucks a guitar string gently, then plucks the same string hard. The hard pluck gives the sound wave a larger amplitude at the same frequency. Compare the two sounds' loudness and pitch.
Increasing the amplitude causes the sound to become louder.
The frequency is the same both times, and frequency sets the pitch.
The hard pluck's sound is louder, and its pitch is the same as the gentle pluck's.
Maren muffles a ringing phone under a pillow, so the sound wave reaching her loses amplitude. What happens to the loudness she hears?
Decreasing the amplitude makes the sound quieter.
The ring sounds quieter.
Two claps send out sound waves that differ only in amplitude. Which clap sounds louder?
A speaker cone keeps the same frequency but swings with twice its old amplitude. What happens to the sound's pitch?
Maren says: 'Increasing the amplitude of a 500 Hz tone makes it louder and leaves its pitch unchanged.' Is Maren correct?
A cello string is bowed softly, then bowed firmly at the same frequency. Which statement is correct?
Pim's doorbell chime now sounds quieter than it used to, at the same pitch. What changed about its sound wave?
A referee blows a whistle harder, and the whistle's sound wave leaves with a larger amplitude at the same frequency. What does the crowd hear?