Acoustics

Acoustics Acoustics is the term for the study of sound and how sound is experienced. The field of acoustics is divided into several specialist areas. The word acoustics comes from the Greek akoustikos (“to do with hearing”) and akouo (“to hear”).

Speed: distance traveled in unit time (m/s). Frequency: number of complete waves in one second (Hz). Wavelength: distance between matching points on the wave (m). Longitudinal: vibration parallel to direction of travel.Transverse: direction at right angle to direction of travel.
 * Definitions: **

**Sound is caused by objects vibrating**. Big objects produce big wavelength and low frequency instead small objects make small wavelength and hight frequency. Sound waves are caused by air compression, for example when we clap our hands despite that they vibrate, we are compressing the air between them. Sound has energy to spread and in a bigger area this energy gets smaller.

**Room acoustics** are about the way in which sound behaves in a room. Sound transmission, sound absorption, sound reflection and sound diffusion are all aspects that are important here. Room acoustics also include how we as humans perceive different acoustic phenomena.

A room and its acoustic quality should be a support for people and the activities in which they are involved. To create the correct acoustic conditions is to create Room Acoustic Comfort. It is an important element of the sound environment concept and this, along with light, air and perception of the room, is in turn a natural component of the total indoor environment.
 * Room Acoustic Comfort **

A sound-absorbing ceiling is a practical aid for achieving Room Acoustic Comfort. The sound-absorbing ceiling will interact with the sound-dispersing (scattering) furnishings in the room. The sound level that is constantly generated in the room will, on the other hand, be effectively dealt with by the ceiling and be less dependent on sound-dispersing (scattering) objects. Suspended ceilings have a positive effect on speech clarity by reducing the reverberance in the room.