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Question:

Describe with the help of a diagram, how compressions and rarefactions are produced in air near a source of sound?

Solution:

When a vibrating body swings forward, it pushes and compresses the air in front of it creating a region of high pressure. This region is called a compression. This compression starts to move away from the vibrating object. When the vibrating body swings backwards, it creates a region of low pressure called rarefaction. As the object swings / oscillates back and forth rapidly, a series of compressions and rarefactions is created in the air. These make the sound wave that propagates through air.