Noise Pollution

What is noise pollution? Noise pollution is not actual pollution in the commonly used sense of the word. It is a series of sounds that affect the ears in a negative way. It can cause health and behavioral effects on people AND animals. There are a variety of things that can cause noise pollution such as, different types of large machinery, jet engines, rail noises, automobiles, car alarms, office equipment, factory machinery, construction work, entertainment systems, a busy metropolitan, a large office building, and/or a small residential building etc...Noise Pollution Effects on Humans:
Noise pollution as a variety/wide range of negative effects on humans some of these are, hearing problems, cardiovascular issues, sleep disturbances, interference in verbal communication, and mental health problems.Hearing Damage: Exposure to unplesent loud noises can damage your hearing. Hearing impairment due to noise pollution can sometimes turn out just to be temporary however, sometimes you are unlucky and you loose your hearing permanently. Noise levels of above 80 decibels can cause damaging effects to the ear, however if noise levels above 100 decibels can cause permanent hearing damage or loss.Cardiovascular Issues: Did you know that a noisy environment can be one of the sources of heart related problems? A series of studies have shown that a high sound intensity environment can cause a dramatic rise in blood pressure and the high noise levels have also been known to constrict the arteries (which disrupts the blood flow.) Due to the blood increase, you increase the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases in the future.
Sleep Issues: Though an obvious cause of such loud noises, loss of sleep can effect your overall well being. By losing sleep you can become an incredibly annoying, grouchy, and uncomfortable person to be around. Lack of sleep can also decrease your ability to work efficiently.
Interference in Verbal Communication: Ever been talking to someone and gotten annoyed cause you couldn't hear what they were saying even though they were right next to you? Thats because the environment you were trying to communicate in was producing more than 50-60 decibels of sound. Also, if you can only grab snippets of what a person is saying then this may lead to a misunderstanding which, will cause future issues all due to a noisy environment.
Mental Health Problems: Being exposed to loud and irritating sounds 24/7 can elevate you stress levels and maybe even stimulate violent behavior! While being exposed to continuous loud noises in the area where you live or work can sometimes trigger headaches, cause you to be tense and anxious, and sometimes disturb your emotional balance!
Noise Pollution Effects on Animals: All the man made noise pollution around the world today isn't just effecting us as humans, we are also effecting the animals. Due to noise pollution we have; decreased reproductive activity for many animals,caused discomfort amongs underwater animals due to ships, submarines, and sonars. Birds in some urban areas have developed a sharp hearing ability in order to improve their ability to scout out prey however, thanks to noise pollution the breeding and feeding of these animals has been disrupted causing some species to become extinct! Another common effect on animals due to noise pollution is that, underwater animals communication has been lost in some situation due to them being surrounded by loud disturbing noises (this relates to humans problem of communication as well.)One of the scariest effects for animals in noise polltuion ist that some animals are found to have gone blind due and then been seriously hurt becuase they couldn't see!Ways of Eliminating Noise Pollution:
Though noise pollution is till a huge problem, certain measures are still being taken to prevent it, these are a couple ways that I have found.
Double-paned windows and weather stripping: Some people who live a a noisy city, or near an airport or highway, have installed double panned windows in their houses and added weather stripping. These i think are the best things to do because the weather stripping and double panned windows don't only reduce the noise pollution but they also have been known to reduce your cooling and heating bills, therefore you are also helping the environment!
Turn off the T.V.: When at home many people leave the TV going constantly they don't actually know how much efeect this can have on you. The contant backdrop of TV can work as a distraction and potential stressor.
Popular, Crowded areas: By living near major highways, roads, shopping centers, airports, etc... You are being more exposed to noise pollution than some.

Works Cited

J, Nicks. "Noise Pollution Effects." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. .

Scott, Elizabeth. "Reducing Noise Pollution - How To Reduce Noise Pollution's Negative Effects." Stress Management - Stress Information and Resources from About.com. 17 Nov. 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. .

"What Is Noise Pollution? - What Noise Pollution Is, What Causes Noise Pollution, and Who Regulates It." Recent Questions: - Questions Recently Asked on What-Is-What.com. 09 Dec. 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. .

Guiding question:
How does density of various solids affect the was sound waves travel from the tuning fork?

Hypothesis:
I think that the denser the material is the louder it will sound.

Data Analysis:

Material	Density	Observation
Locker	7.85 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: Very high pitched, proves that that the smaller they are the louder they sound. sound lasts for 17.69 seconds. a lot less vibration than with the larger one. Tuning Fork 256 C: lower pitched, sound is slightly harder to hear (not as loud) sound lasts for 15.03 seconds. a lot more vibration with this one than with the smaller one.
Whiteboard	2.8 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: less vibration lasts for only 9 seconds. Tuning Fork 256 C: loud! not as much vibration as with lockers. sound lasts for 18.65 seconds.
Desk	0.75 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: Just as loud as it was against the locker, sound lasts for, 12.35 seconds. Tuning Fork 256 C: Sound lasts for 30.73 seconds, More vibration than on white board and lasts for longer.
Wall	3.12 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: Lasts for 20.75 seconds, more vibration than other ones. lasts longer than dest Tuning Fork 256 C: Sound lasts for 34.0 seconds, not very high vibration.
Wooden Floor	0.50 g/cm 3	Tuning Fork 480 B: last for 9.44 seconds, same vibration amount as locker, very hollow sounding. Pitch lower Tuning Fork 256 C: Lasted 30.43 seconds, vibration not very high, pitch was high sounding.
Cement Floor	3.12 g/cm 3	Fork 480 B: Lasts for 7.05 seconds, vibration high, pitch higher than mlst tries. Very loud, loudest one. Tuning Fork 256 C: Sound lasts for 27.25 seconds, vibration very high, higher than usually but not as high as last try.

Conclusion

The hypothesis turned out to be partially correct because we received the best results from the locker. We found that the larger the tuning fork was the lower the pitch was, and the smaller the tuning fork the higher the pitch was. I think that one of the reasons we got the best results from the locker is because the material of the locker and how dense it was. The material helped because out of all the materials we used it was easiest to move and vibrate in a way. And it was the most dense material that we used as well.


Further Inquiry:
We could have tested more materials, or the same materials with a bunch of different tuning forks. And then seen and recorded how they reacted therefore getting a better picture of the way the sound waves react when it comes to a variety of everyday materials.


Sites that you used:
No research was done.

Listening to Sounds Lab

Purpose:
To determine a way to amplify sound traveling to your ear.

Procedure:
1. Tie 2 strings to the handle of a metal spoon. Each string should be about 40 cm long.
2. Hold one end of each string in each hand. Bump the bowl of the spoon against a desk or other hard, solid object. Listen to the sound.
3. Now wrap the ends of the string around your fingers.
4. Put your index fingers up against your ears and bump the spoon against the object again.

Conclusion:

1. How does the first sound compare with the sound you heard with your fingers up against your ears? The vibration was stronger and it sounded louder and deeper on the second sound test than with the first one.

2. How did the sound travel to your ears when you had the string touching your ears? The vibration traveled through the string.

3. Why do you think it was easier to hear the sound when you put the strings by your ears? Because we were tightening the strings making it denser.

Section 2: Properties of Sound; Reflection

In this section I learn't about how:

• How a sound wave of greater intensity sounds louder (loudness = measured in decibels.)
  
• The pitch of a sound that you hear depends on the frequency of the wave/sound wave.
  
• And lastly, As the sound source of the wave moves toward the listener, the wave reach the listener with a higher frequency. The pitch appears to increase because of the Doppler effect. (E.G. ambulance.)

The main focuses in this unit were; the intensity and loudness of waves, the frequency and pitch of the waves, and the Doppler effects. All in all what i found most interesting in this section was learning about the Doppler effects because i have heard briefly about it before but never understood it in detail.

Section 1: The Nature of Sound; Reflection

In this chapter I learn't about sound and longitudinal waves, the speed of sound, and things that move faster than sound.
I learn't that, wound is a disturbance that travels through a variety of different mediums in the form of longitudinal waves. Also that the speed that sound travels depends on the elasticity, density, and the temperature that the medium is. I also learn't about how my voice box and ear drum work as well as my vocal chords. Sounds can also travel through solids and liquids. I also thought that it was interesting about how the speed of sound is effected by how close together the particles in the medium/substance are.
Over all i think that the most interesting thing that i learn't about the nature of sound is that when sound hits a barrier with even the tiniest hole the waves will still pass through the hole!

Producing Sound: Rubber Bands

Procedure:

Have 2 partners hold each end of rubbber band and pull until the rubber band is tight.
pull the rubber band about 1 cm away from the middle. Let go. How far does the band move? It vibrates.
reapeat step 2 four times. each time, pull the band back further. Describe how the sound changes each time in the chart below.
Experiment: Frequency:
Have 2 partners each hold one end of the thicker rubber band and pull until the rubber band is tight.
pull the rubber band about 2cm away from the middle. Let it go. Observe the sound
repeat steps 1-2 with the thin rubber band and describe the difference in the chart below.
now, take the thicker rubber band again. Repeat steps 1-2.
Now pull the thicker rubber band again. Observe how the sound changes.
Last experiment:
Have 2 partners hole the thick rubber band just like in step 1.
Now, have one of your partners move his or her hand so that the rubber band is a little bit shorter.
Repeat step 8 two more times, making the rubber band a little shorter each time. Record your observations of the change in sound.
Results:
Experiment 1:

Distance away from middle	Description of sound
1cm	Low sounding
2cm	Getting slightly higher
3cm	Getting harder to pull
4cm	Higher and can hear vibration
5cm	Highest sounding and tangy sounding

Experiment 2:

Thickness of Rubber Band	Description of Sound
Thick	Deep and stiff sounding
Thin	Sound a lot higher and sounds slightly twangy

Tightness of Rubber Band	Description of Sound
Loose	Very low sounding
Tight	Medium sounding (slightly higher)
Tightest	A lot higher

Length of Rubber Band	Description of Sound
Longest	Low and stiff sounding
Long	High and twangy (can hear slight vibration)
Shortest	High sounding and can hear vibration clearly

Conclusion:
How did the sound change when you changed the amplitude (how far the rubber band was away from the middle point?)
It was harder to pull the rubber band back and it sounded stiffer, it was also easier to hear the vibration of the rubber band.
What happened when you changed the thickness, length, and tightness of the rubber band?
The longer the rubber band the lower and stiffer it would sound. The tighter the rubber band string was the higher the pitch would be, and the thicker the deeper sounding the rubber band was.

Sally is playing the guitar and notices that one of her strings is flat (pitch is too low.) What can she do to fix this?
She can turn the guitar by TIGHTENING the strings (using the knobs on the guitar.)