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Suppose that a sound source is emitting waves uniformly in all directions. If you move to a point twice as far away from the source, the frequency of the sound will be:________.

a. one-fourth as great.
b. half as great.
c. twice as great.
d. unchanged.

User Hutjepower
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2 Answers

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Final answer:

The frequency of the sound from a stationary source remains unchanged when you move twice as far away, although the intensity decreases. So the correct option is d.

Step-by-step explanation:

When considering a sound source emitting waves uniformly in all directions, if you move to a point twice as far away from the source, the frequency of the sound will remain unchanged. The frequency of a wave is the number of cycles per second and is dependent on the source of the sound, not the distance from it. However, as you move away from the sound source, while the frequency remains constant, the intensity of the sound will decrease according to the inverse square law. This means that at double the distance, the intensity would be one-fourth, but the frequency you perceive does not change.

The Doppler Effect explains changes in frequency perception, but it requires relative motion between the source and the observer. In a case where both the source and observer are stationary, or if the observer is moving directly away or towards the source at a constant velocity, the frequency perceived by the observer is the same as the source's emission frequency.

User Henrique Branco
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Answer:

d. unchanged.

Step-by-step explanation:

The frequency of a wave is dependent on the speed of the wave and the wavelength of the wave. The frequency is characteristic for a wave, and does not change with distance. This is unlike the amplitude which determines the intensity, which decreases with distance.

In a wave, the velocity of propagation of a wave is the product of its wavelength and its frequency. The speed of sound does not change with distance, except when entering from one medium to another, and we can see from

v = fλ

that the frequency is tied to the wave, and does not change throughout the waveform.

where v is the speed of the sound wave

f is the frequency

λ is the wavelength of the sound wave.

User Shyam S
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