An Overview
Have you ever wondered how we human beings can produce sounds? How can we produce a variety of sounds? What allows humans to produce sounds? How many sound boxes does a human body have? The most widely used method of communication in every organism from humans to all animals is the voice.
Every higher-order organism produces vocal sounds to communicate and reach their species making complex sounds. They require specialised parts of their bodies and these specialised part in the case of humans is called the sound box or voice box or the larynx which contains voice codes that vibrate and actually perform the function of producing a sound; so, let us begin learning about how to make sound and how is the sound produced in humans.
What is Sound
What is a Sound Box?
Although the sound box is a generalised term used for every box that is used to or is capable of producing any kind of sound. But in humans, the sound box is a hollow chamber present inside the middle of your neck which is located at the top of our windpipe. It houses the vocal cords that produce sounds through its vibrations. Let's see in both the larynx and the sound box in detail.
The Sound Box of the Human Body
The larynx is the sound box of the human body. The hollow tube connecting the pharynx to the rest of the respiratory system is known as the larynx. It takes the air that we breathe in through the trachea and with the help of vocal cords present in it produces the sound. It is also called the source of our voice. The human sound box is placed in its position with the help of cartilage named the thyroid (flexible and tough tissue forming the front part of the voice box), the cricoid (the ring-shaped cartilage of the larynx), and the epiglottis. The larynx also helps in swallowing and in breathing.
Larynx and Vocal Cords
How Many Vocal Cords do Humans Have?
Vocal cords are thin muscles that are present across inside the larynx and are stretched as we breathe in and out as we speak vibrate and produce sound. The human larynx consists of two vocal cords that are in a V-shaped structure; the vocal cord that is superior is also known as the false vocal cord and the others are called true vocal cords. Therefore, we conclude the number of vocal cords in the human body is two in total.
The upper or superior vocal cords are called false chords because they are not directly involved in producing sound whereas the other vocal cord is white in coloured and filled with mucus and is the one that actually produces sound.
How is the Sound Produced in Humans?
To know how a sound is produced, we need to know what is a sound. In terms of Physics, sound is defined as vibrations that move through the air or another medium. In human beings, sound is produced by an organ called the Voice box or larynx. The larynx is located in the centre of your neck, just below the Adam's apple. The larynx is the hollow muscular structure that contains the vocal cords and forms the airway to the lungs in humans. These vocal cords are responsible for the production of sound from the voice box.
When we speak, the muscles that are called vocal cords in our larynx are stretched and the opening of the larynx becomes narrower when the air passes through that narrow slit vocal cords vibrate. And when the vocal cords tighten, the vibration increases and also, in turn, increases the sound that we reduce, therefore, it is the reason why the human voice has different kinds of pitches.
Human Communication Using Sound
Summary
To conclude all the learnings regarding how sound is produced in humans, we can say that sound is a very essential component of human life; without voice or sound, humans will not be able to communicate the way they do. In this article, we saw all the aspects regarding the voice or sound that we humans and all other higher-order organisms produce.
Sound Boxes have variations in other organisms like in humans it is called the larynx, on other hands in birds, it is called a syrinx but the function is the same. The larynx is a hollow tube. It allows air to pass from our throat to the windpipe and produces sound. With this, we would like to end this article and hope that all the doubts related to this topic is clear now. If you have any doubts, you can ask in the comment section.
FAQs on How is Sound Produced in Humans?
1. How do humans produce sound to speak or sing?
Humans produce sound using the voice box, also known as the larynx, which is located in the throat. When we speak, air from our lungs is pushed through two small bands of muscle called vocal cords. This air makes the vocal cords vibrate, and these vibrations create sound waves that we shape into words with our mouth and tongue.
2. What is the main difference between the loudness and pitch of a sound?
The main difference lies in what they measure. Loudness depends on the amplitude or the energy of the sound wave and is measured in decibels (dB). A sound with high amplitude is loud. Pitch, on the other hand, depends on the frequency of the vibration, measured in hertz (Hz). A high-frequency sound has a high pitch, like a whistle, while a low-frequency sound has a low pitch, like a drum.
3. Why do you feel a vibration in your throat when you talk but not when you are quiet?
You feel a vibration because speaking requires your vocal cords to vibrate. Air from your lungs passes over them, causing them to move back and forth very quickly. This vibration is the source of the sound. When you are quiet, your vocal cords are relaxed and are not vibrating, so you don't feel anything.
4. Can sound travel through anything, or does it need something specific?
Sound needs a medium to travel. A medium is any substance that has particles, like a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Sound waves travel by making the particles of the medium vibrate. This is why sound cannot travel through a vacuum, such as in outer space, because there are no particles to carry the vibration.
5. What makes some sounds pleasant like music, while others are unpleasant like noise?
The key difference is the nature of the vibrations. Music is generally produced by regular, periodic vibrations that are organised into a pattern, making it pleasing to the ear. Noise, however, is caused by irregular and disorganised vibrations with no clear pattern, which we often find unpleasant or jarring.
6. Why is sound so important in our everyday lives?
Sound is crucial for several reasons in our daily activities. Its primary uses are:
- Communication: It allows us to talk, share ideas, and understand each other.
- Alerts and Safety: Sounds from alarms, horns, and sirens warn us of danger.
- Entertainment and Art: It forms the basis of music, movies, and other forms of entertainment.
- Information: We gather information from our surroundings through sounds, like an approaching vehicle or a ringing doorbell.
7. Is sound faster than light? For example, during a thunderstorm.
No, sound is much slower than light. You can observe this during a thunderstorm: you see the flash of lightning almost instantly, but you hear the thunder a few seconds later. This is because light travels at about 300 million metres per second, while sound travels at only about 340 metres per second in air.
