PSYC 100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Eardrum, Sine Wave, Ear Canal

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jordan Poppenk

Document Summary

When you make sounds, the vibration causes adjacent air molecules to compress and rarefy, changes travel to our ears. Measured in the sound pressure level (spl) using a logarithmic scale, decibels (db): loudness: the psychological property of sound corresponding to its intensity. Also depends on the frequency, if it is one we are less sensitive to, it will seem quieter: decibels: unit used to express the intensity of a sound wave. Define the difference between 2 sounds in terms of the ratio between their sound pressures. Frequency: the number of peaks per second (the inverse of wavelength). Most sounds consist of many different frequencies, shown in a spectrum. Measured in hertz (hz): pitch: the psychological property corresponding to frequency; the property that allows sounds to be ordered on a musical scale, human hearing is 20-20,000 hz, max audible frequency drops as we get older to 10,000-