Question

State true or false.
Sound obeys laws of reflection.

Answer 1

Sound gets reflected back in the same medium when it hits the surface of another medium. This phenomenon is described as a reflection of sound. Sound travels in air as longitudinal waves and obeys the same laws of reflection as light.

Complete step by step answer:
According to the laws of reflection, the incident wave, the reflected wave and the normal lie on the same straight plane and the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. The waves that hit a surface are called incidents and the wave which gets reflected back is called the reflected wave. The point at which the incident wave strikes and the point from where the reflected wave emerges is the same. A perpendicular drawn at that point is called the normal. The angle which the incident wave makes with the normal is called the angle of incidence and is equal to the angle which the reflected wave makes with the normal called the angle of reflection.
Therefore, the given statement is true.

Additional Information:
The reflection of sound is used by bats to locate objects at night. SONAR uses reflection of sound to estimate depth of ocean or locate objects.

Note:
When sound waves hit a surface, some waves are reflected back into the medium while some waves are absorbed by it. This property of sound is used to make theatres sound proof. The walls are made of materials that absorb the sound waves from the outside.