Question

Quality of sound primarily depends upon

• A. intensity
• B. frequency
• C. shape of the souce
• D. wave form

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

wave form

Answer 2

The quality depends primarily on the waveform of the sound. The waveform of the sound emitted by a tuning fork is a simple sine curve. But most bodies vibrate in a very complex manner. Besides the fundamental frequency $f$, they consist of additional frequencies of $2 f , 3 f, 4f,$ etc. These additional tones are called overtones or harmonics. According to Helmholtz, the quality is determined by the number, relative frequency and intensities of the component simple tones of which a complex vibration is composed of.