A term derived from the Greek word “Akoustous” which translates to heard, Acoustics, is a field of science which paves way to understand the production, control, transmission and effects of sound. Out of the five senses, auditory sense or what we call “hearing” is very intricate as good sound, or music, helps in relieving stress and also when used therapeutically improves concentration and memory power too.
Acoustics, the term, is widely used in referring to the qualities that state the ability of room or any confined space to reflect sound waves so as to produce distinct hearing, to be simple, clarity of hearing avoiding the mixing ups and echoes or reverberation. In simple words, it is the science of sounds.
A wider application of acoustics can be seen in sound engineering, which is incorporated in movies, concerts and other major shows. In all these cases, sound plays a major role in defining the mood and genre. Better sound engineering related to the specificity of the genre of the film, the quality and reach of the film will be a wider aspect. For instance, if you are watching a horror movie like Conjuring or Insidious, the certain specifically engineered sound effects will give impetus to the movie, giving goosebumps if indulged into it….

The acoustics find its application in movie theatres and concert halls where the place is sound proofed in order to create the ambience for greater viewing experience. There are multidimensional movies now a days, right from 3-D to 12-D where the sound comes from different dimensions, engineered to give an immersive experience giving the same hearing experience irrespective of the seating position of the viewer. Even while you choose your headphones, you opt for those models having higher noise cancellations. This increases the quality of audio to be perceived. All these are fields of application of acoustics and sound engineering. 
Acoustics can be classified into 
1.	Environmental noise – dealing with the disturbances or vibrations and noise caused by railroads, roadways, runways and aircrafts, and other general activities related to environment. The aim is to reduce and control the noises which adversely affects the environment and its factors.
2.	Musical acoustics – covering areas of human voice, musical and orchestral instruments and music therapy, it deals with the study of sounds which is used to create music. 
3.	Ultrasounds – not much difference in the physical properties when compared with normal audible sounds, but these are sounds having frequencies greater than audible frequency, ie., 20000 hz. It finds its application in imaging and object detection.
4.	Infrasounds – the study is called, infrasonics. These sounds have frequency less than the lowest audible limit of 20 hz. It is used in detection of underground resources and in detection of tectonic plate movement possibilities.
5.	Vibration and dynamics – it deals with the study of interaction of mechanical systems with the environment it is installed. It finds its application in controlling the vibration, so as to protect building structures from earthquakes and also ground vibrations of railways, rocket launch pads and other similar cases.
The study of sound and sound waves starts from class 8th , all the way to complex equation solving in class 11th. Sound engineering and acoustic engineering are now pioneering as it is one of the major sought-after courses due to its job openings in entertainment and architectural industry.