The range of ultrasound is any sound wave with a frequency greater than what?
1 Answer
Ultrasounds are sound waves which have frequency higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing, for healthy, young adults.
Explanation:
As shown in the picture below Human Audible range is considered as from 20Hz to 20KHz.
Ultrasound are no different from normal sound waves in their physical properties except that human ear cannot hear these.
Infants and children can hear some frequencies above 20KHz as the ability to hear higher pitched sound above the said limit decreases with age.
Silent whistle for dogs emit ultrasound in the range 18 to 22 kHz.
Bats, whales and some other species of animals can detect frequencies beyond 100 kHz, maybe up to 200 kHz.
Frequencies of 1 MHz and higher, to 20 MHz are used for Ultrasonic imaging in medical applications. With higher frequency or shorter wavelength it is easy to resolve smaller organs inside the body. Ultrasound around 1 MHz are used for biomedical, destructive applications and around 2 to 10 MHz for diagnostic and Non-destructive applications.
Rough guide for the frequency of ultrasound and their applications is shown in the picture below.
