Question

You are waiting for your friend to give you a ride on his new motorcycle. as your friend pulls up the driveway the brakes squeal loudly. you get on, and then your friend steps on the engine. as the motorcycle accelerates, the engine roars loudly. the high-pitched squeal of the brakes was caused by _____ sound waves, and the equally loud but low-pitched roar of the engine was caused by _____ sound waves.

Answer 1

The high pitched squeal of the brakes is caused by high-frequency sounds waves, which could be as high as 20,000 Hz. The loud roar of the engine is low-frequency sound waves, which could be as low as 20 Hz. Humans can hear within that range of sounds and while the volume might be the same the pitch is different based on the frequency of the sound.