Final answer:
The ability of sound waves to bend around objects is known as diffraction, a phenomenon that occurs when the wavelength of the wave is of similar size to the object it interacts with. All types of waves, including sound, exhibit diffraction, which is why we can hear sounds around corners or through apertures such as open doors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ability of a sound pressure wave to "bend" around an object is known as diffraction. When a sound wave encounters an obstacle or passes through an aperture, it tends to spread out. This phenomenon is observed because sound waves act as pressure waves, and when they interact with objects of size comparable to their wavelength, they can bend around them.
This is different from reflection, where sound waves bounce off surfaces, or refraction, which involves the change in direction of waves when entering a different medium. Interference, on the other hand, is the phenomenon of waves overlapping and affecting each other's propagation.
Diffraction is ruled by Huygens's Principle and is a common characteristic of all types of waves, including sound. It explains why we can hear sounds from around corners or through open doors, as the sound waves bend and fill the room.
This phenomenon depends on the wave's wavelength and the size of the object it interacts with sound waves, having relatively larger wavelengths, can easily diffract around objects such as buildings. Light waves, however, have much shorter wavelengths, which generally limits their diffraction through everyday-sized apertures and objects.
The change in pressure rather than the actual pressure is what defines sound waves because it is the variation from the norm (equilibrium) that propagates and is perceived as sound.
While sound cannot travel through a vacuum as it requires a medium to carry the pressure changes, light, as an electromagnetic wave, can travel through a vacuum because it does not depend on a medium.