The acoustic energy (or sonorous) is the one transmitted by sound waves, proceeding from vibrational waves and propagating to the particles of the medium that pass through in the form of kinetic energy and potential energy. For instance: the vibrations that are generated inside a box television.
It complies with all the generalized energy laws, in particular with the conservation one, whereby if there is no other type of transformation, the incident energy will be equal to the sum of transmitted, dissipated and reflected energies.
The unit of measurement used to express sound or acoustic energy is the July (J): the density of acoustic energy is measured in July per cubic meter (J / m3).
Propagation of sound energy
The best way to think about how sound energy works is to think about a very long tube filled with air, which is made up of a very large number of small particles or molecules. The air inside the tube begins in a state of rest, in a dynamic equilibrium as the molecules move in all directions due to thermal agitation.
If a motion wave towards the inside of the tube, the molecules closest to the movement will be pushed, but these will lead to the original disturbance propagating along the tube. The propagation of sound energy also works in this way, with linear characteristics of waves propagating through the same space at the same time without being affected.
Properties of sound energy
The waves Many times they are difficult to signify due to their unobservable nature, but they propagate through materials (both in solid, liquid or gaseous state) with a speed that depends on the elastic and inertial properties of the medium.
The waves are generally divided between the transversal and the longitudinal, group to which sound waves belong: this is easy to notice in the case of stringed musical instruments. The graphic representation of the sound waves is carried out through an oscillogram that shows the value of the sound pressure at each instant in time.
Sound energy applications
The human being uses this type of energy in different applications, the most notorious are the electrical devices that serve to optimize communication between people.
Medicine has also made great use of this type of energy by using ultrasound waves to create images of the human body, achieving an imitation of the organs that most absorb these waves: thyroid ultrasound, for example, uses high-frequency sound waves that generate an image of the thyroid gland. The reason for this use is that objects of different body hardness absorb sound energy in different ways.
Examples of acoustic or sound energy
- The vibrations that are generated inside a box television.
- Microphones, which transform acoustic energy into electrical energy.
- Speakers, which transform electrical energy into acoustic energy.
- The vibrations that a phone emits (not the vibration of a cell phone).
- The energy emitted by mechanical vibrations.
Other types of energy
| Potential energy | Mechanical energy | Kinetic energy |
| Hydroelectric power | Internal energy | Caloric energy |
| Electric power | Thermal energy | Geothermal energy |
| Chemical energy | Solar energy | Sound energy |
| Wind power | Nuclear energy | Hydraulic energy |
Follow with:
- Bass sounds and high-pitched sounds
- Natural sounds and artificial sounds
- Renewable and non-renewable energies