Particle acceleration

In acoustics, particle acceleration is the acceleration (rate of change in speed and direction) of particles in a sound transmission medium. When sound passes through a medium it causes particle displacement and as such causes changes in their acceleration.

The acceleration of the air particles of a plane sound wave is given by: $$a=\delta \cdot {\omega }^2=v\cdot \omega =\frac{p\cdot \omega }{Z}=\omega \sqrt{\frac{J}{Z}}=\omega \sqrt{\frac{E}{\rho }}=\omega \sqrt{\frac{P_{\text{ac}}}{Z\cdot A}}$$

Symbol	Units	Meaning
a	m/s2	particle acceleration
v	m/s	particle velocity
δ	m, meters	particle displacement
ω = 2πf	radians/s	angular frequency
f	Hz, hertz	frequency
p	Pa, pascals	sound pressure
Z	N·s/m3	acoustic impedance
J	W/m2	sound intensity
E	W·s/m3	sound energy density
Pac	W, watts	sound power or acoustic power
A	m2	area

See also

• Sound
• Sound particle
• Particle displacement
• Particle velocity

External links

• Relationships of acoustic quantities associated with a plane progressive acoustic sound wave - pdf