Understanding the behaviours of sound waves, including reflection, refraction, and diffraction, is important in many fields, including acoustics, engineering, and communication. Diffraction of sound waves is important in many applications, such as in the design of concert halls and in the study of the effects of obstacles on sound propagation. The degree to which a sound wave diffracts depends on the wavelength of the sound wave and the size of the obstacle. When a sound wave encounters an obstacle, it may bend around the edges of the obstacle and spread out into the region behind it. Refraction of sound waves is important in many applications, such as in the design of lenses and in the study of atmospheric acoustics. The degree to which the sound wave bends depends on the difference in the speed of sound between the two mediums, as well as the angle at which the sound wave enters the new medium. When a sound wave passes from one medium to another, its speed and direction can change. Sound waves have a wavelength of 1.72 × 10 -2 17 m so would not be diffracted by the diffraction grating. UV waves have a wavelength between 4 × 10 -7 1 × 10 -8 m so won’t be diffracted by a gate post. Reflection of sound waves is important in many practical applications, such as echolocation and soundproofing. Diffraction is most prominent when the wavelength is close to the aperture size. The angle at which the sound wave hits the surface (the angle of incidence) and the angle at which it reflects (the angle of reflection) obey the law of reflection, which states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. This is known as reflection and is what is normally heard as an echo. When a sound wave encounters a surface, some of the sounds may bounce back in the opposite direction. These behaviours include reflection, refraction, and diffraction.
The fact that you can hear sounds around corners and around barriers involves both diffraction and reflection. Important parts of our experience with sound involve diffraction. Sound waves can exhibit several different behaviours as they travel through different mediums or encounter obstacles. Diffraction: the bending of waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of waves beyond small openings.