Question

Ravi observed that the walls of his school concert hall are curved and are in a
dome shape, unlike his class ceiling which is straight and recorded the same
observations in his journal. Help Ravi in drawing inference about the difference in
the shape of the ceilings of two rooms in terms of reflection of sound.

Answer 1

Explanation:

Reflection and Transmission of Sound

When a wave reaches the boundary between one medium another medium, a portion of the wave undergoes reflection and a portion of the wave undergoes transmission across the boundary. As discussed in the previous part of Lesson 3, the amount of reflection is dependent upon the dissimilarity of the two media. For this reason, acoustically minded builders of auditoriums and concert halls avoid the use of hard, smooth materials in the construction of their inside halls. A hard material such as concrete is as dissimilar as can be to the air through which the sound moves; subsequently, most of the sound wave is reflected by the walls and little is absorbed. Walls and ceilings of concert halls are made softer materials such as fiberglass and acoustic tiles. These materials are more similar to air than concrete and thus have a greater ability to absorb sound. This gives the room more pleasing acoustic properties.