Which statement correctly describes the relationship between frequency and pitch?

Which statement correctly describes the relationship between frequency and pitch?

• A. Higher frequency means lower pitch
• B. Frequency affects amplitude, not pitch
• C. Higher frequency means higher pitch
• D. Pitch is independent of frequency

Answer: (C)

Pitch is how high or low a sound seems, and it mainly follows the rate of vibration of the sound wave. When the frequency—that is, cycles per second—increases, the sound waves vibrate faster, and we perceive a higher pitch. A standard example is 440 Hz, the pitch of A; when you raise the frequency to 880 Hz, you hear an octave higher A. Amplitude, which is how strong the vibration is, affects loudness, not pitch, so increasing loudness doesn’t change the pitch. That’s why the statement linking higher frequency to higher pitch is the correct description. The other options misstate the relationship or separate frequency from pitch, which isn’t accurate.

Pitch is how high or low a sound seems, and it mainly follows the rate of vibration of the sound wave. When the frequency—that is, cycles per second—increases, the sound waves vibrate faster, and we perceive a higher pitch. A standard example is 440 Hz, the pitch of A; when you raise the frequency to 880 Hz, you hear an octave higher A. Amplitude, which is how strong the vibration is, affects loudness, not pitch, so increasing loudness doesn’t change the pitch. That’s why the statement linking higher frequency to higher pitch is the correct description. The other options misstate the relationship or separate frequency from pitch, which isn’t accurate.