Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

Analysis

Have you ever wondered how you were able to hear your friend on the other side
of the line by just using your old toy, the two paper cups attached by a string? Even
though you were far apart and the string of the cup was stretched you were able to hear
what he or she was saying without even shouting. Generally that is because sound
travels faster on solid materials rather than in liquids and gasses. Just like in a baseball
game, if you sat far from the playing field youll notice after the batter hits the ball you
wont immediately hear the sound of the bat hitting the ball. It still takes a couple of
seconds before you hear it. This is because light travels faster than sound as what we
usually observe.

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

Sound surrounds us in our everyday life. People sometimes ignore the great
importance of sounds in our lives. They forget that it is a form of energy produced
through vibration. Sound waves are longitudinal waves that travel through an elastic
medium. This elastic medium serves as the path where the sound travels and the speed
of the sound also depends on it, whether the medium is solid, liquid or gas. Among the
three medium sound travels slowest through gas, faster through liquid and fastest
through solid.
Longitudinal waves are compressional waves which travel through the air through
series of compression and rarefaction. Compression happens when the molecules are
forced closer together than normal, the region of higher density and pressure. On the
other hand, rarefaction happens when the molecules are spread farther apart than
normal, the region of lower density. And since sound waves are classified as
longitudinal waves, the direction of the vibration is the same as the direction of the
travel of the wave. The motion of the particle in the medium is back and forth same
with the direction that the wave travels.
In this laboratory, we can determine the speed of sound which through the
traditional method. In here the sound is allowed to travel through a solid material which
is the metal rod and through gas which is the glass column. Through this, the frequency
and the speed of sound can be determined. This process is referred to as the Kundts
tube method. The picture below shows the set-up of the experiment.

Fig. 1: Sample of experimental set-up for Kundts Tube

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

The following materials are needed for the experiment:

Thermometer

Kundts Tube

Rug

Lycopodium Powder

Meter Stick
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Rosin Powder

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

The Kundts tube is a long narrow tube made of glass that is close by a stopper at
one end. It is mounted in a certain metal bar frame so that it can be adjusted
vertically/longitudinally with respect to the frame. A metal rod is clamped to the support
frame, exactly at the center of the rod. The rod is clamped at the center to produce a
fundamental mode of vibration. This rod has a disk at its one end that is inserted into the
glass tube but it does not touch the tube. In addition, the glass tube contains some
lycopodium powder inside which is distributed evenly in the entire length of the tube.
With the use of the cloth or rug, we put some rosin powder with it then the
rosined cloth is griped around rod and stroked lengthwise. Longitudinal standing waves
are formed in the column glass and their movements are observed on the movement of
the lycopodium powder along the column glass. Those waves with the minimum
vibration that are clamped at the middle are the nodes and the maximum vibrations at
each end of the glass tube are the antinodes. Since the distance between two
consecutive nodes or antinodes in a standing wave is exactly half of its wavelength, then,
the wavelength of the tone in the rod is twice the length of the rod.

Fig. 2: Kundts tube apparatus

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

Sound waves are produced as the rosined cloth is stroked lengthwise as if the
molecules are vibrating successively. Furthermore, the frequency of the vibrations in a
given metal rod depends on the length of the rod and the position of the clamp. The
vibrations are transmitted to the disk, which in turn transmits them into the air
column at the same or equal frequency. The wavelength and velocity change as the
wave chain goes from one medium to another, but the frequency is still consistent.
As the waves enter the tube, it is now in the condition of a closed pipe. In this
scenario, the wave is reflected on the close end of the tube so that the air in the tube is
acted upon by two similar sets of waves travelling in opposite directions. Consequently,
if the distance between the disk and the close end is such to produce resonance, that is
when the length of the tube is exactly a multiple of the half of the wavelength, the cork
dust will be agitated at the antinodes positions and remain relatively still at the nodes
positions as to produce standing waves. For that, the length of one dust loop is one-half
of the wavelengths in the air.

Sound waves obey a fundamental equation of propagation. Thus speed v of a

sound is given as
Eqn. 1

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

where f is the frequency and is the wavelength of the wave. The frequency of a
longitudinal wave is the number of compressions or rarefactions that pass any point in
the elastic medium in one second. The wavelength of a longitudinal wave is the distance
between any two consecutive compressions or rarefactions.
Sound waves travel at different speed. It depends on the compressibility and the
density of the material through which it is passing through. This seems reasonable
because the molecules in an elastic material are tightly coupled. Therefore, they respond
to each other's motions and are able to transmit a wave disturbance through the
materials. Since one of our medium is air, the speed of sound in air depends on the
temperature (t), where t is the temperature in Celsius. This is expressed as:
Eqn. 2
By using the fundamental equation (Eqn. 1), we would be able to calculate the
velocity of the rod (

since the frequency of sound in the rod (

frequency of sound in the air (

is equal to the

Eqn. 3

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

Theoretically the speed of sound in a solid rod is given by the equation :

Eqn. 4

Where Y = Youngs Modulus of the rod

= Density of the rod
The determined velocities of sound in both rod and in air are accompanied by the
data obtained in the experiment. The preliminary and the post data are presented in the
table below.

TABLE 1:KUNDTS VELOCITY OFSOUND IN SOLID

Length of Metal Rod,

91.50 cm

Average length of Powder Segments,

9.90 cm

Temperature of Air, t

23 C

Velocity of Sound in Air,

345.80 m/s

Velocity of Sound in Rod,

3196.03 m/s

While doing strokes on the rod, friction is produced between the cloth and the rod.
As a result, energy or disturbance will occur in a form of longitudinal wave. The
vibrations of the rod are transmitted by the disk to the air in the glass tube closed at one
end.
The waves set up in the air in the glass tube have the same frequency as those in
the rod. Hence, a resonance will be formed and produces sound. The waves are

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

reflected at the closed end of the tube and the air in the tube is thus acted upon by two
similar sets of waves traveling in opposite directions. Since the length of the air column
is some multiple of half wavelengths, the two oppositely traveling waves produce
standing waves.
The standing waves are characterized by alternate points of maximum and
minimum disturbance called respectively nodes and antinodes. These waves become
visible after the dust inside the tube agitated in the antinodes and remain still at the
nodes.
Since the wave loops are visible, we can easily measure its wavelength using the
meter stick. As we all know, all waves segments are in the same sizes. Thus, we can
measure the length of one segment by measuring two or more segment and get its
average. In that method, error can be minimized because the uncertainty in measuring
will be distributed evenly along the whole segments.
In our data, we use 3 segments being averaged. For three segments, we got an
average of 9.90 cm per segment. Since one segment is half of the length of one
wavelength (two successive wave loops), then, we can easily solve the frequency of the
sound in air by determining the velocity of sound in air. It is done by applying its linear
relationship with the temperature. (Eqn.2)

In the experiment, the sound wave produced in rod and in air is in resonance, so
their corresponding frequencies are the same. For that, we can equate each frequency

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Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

and relate the velocity of sound in rod in terms of the frequency of the sound in air and
the wavelength of the sound wave in the metal rod. The metal rod is clamped at the
middle , so nodes will occur at that point while antinodes will occur at both ends, thus
producing one segment of a wave. Again, one segment is actually half of one
wavelength. Since the relationship is completed, we can now solve for the velocity of
the sound in rod. (Eqn.3)

After obtaining the value, the percentage error is then calculated, comparing the
actual value to the experimental value.
TABLE 2: PERCENTAGE ERROR OF VELOCITY OF ROD
3475 m/s

Velocity of Metal Rod (textbook),

Percentage Error

8.03 %

Density of Rod,

8600 kg/m2

Velocity of Metal Rod,

3234.98 m/s

from Eqn. 4

1.20%

Percent Error

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

= 3424.98
|

= 1.20%

Based on the result, we got a lower percent error by using the equation 4. By
considering the nature of the apparatus, we can prove that uncertainty measurement is a
small factor in the accumulation of the error; since the Kundts tube is a special
apparatus made just for this type of experiment, there is a great chance that the data
obtained has a great accuracy when we are using it. The possibility of having an
uncertainty is also diminished since the overall set up is already prepared by the
professional laboratory assistants. Probable source of error for determining the velocity
of the sound in metal rod are as follows:
[1] The tube is not horizontally placed in the table
[2] The tube is somehow open at the end where it should be closed
[3] The uncertainty in measuring the length
In our observations, we saw that the dust is accumulating on the node parts. It is
because these parts are still and does not move at all. When agitation happens, the
movement of the dust is not only sideward but also forward and backward. Thus, the
dust may be crowded on those points, especially when the apparatus used is not
horizontal. The movement of the dust particle is more on a forward or a backward. As
are sult, we cant be able to measure the length of each segment accurately. Good thing
that we may diminish this effect by making the apparatus horizontal or by removing
excess dust particles.

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

In analyzing the relationship of elasticity of solid material and its density with the
velocity of sound in a metal rod, we can use the general formula, where the
velocity of sound in metal is directly proportional to the square root of Y (Youngs
Modulus) and inversely proportional to the square root of its density.

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Mapa Institute of Technology

Department of Physics
Physics 12 Laboratory

Conclusion
In determining the velocity of sound in a rod, the experiment made use of the
general equation in getting the velocity of any wave,
and

where

is the wavelength,

is the frequency. In computing for the velocity of sound in a metal rod, since the

frequency of sound in the rod and the frequency of sound in air are both equal,

, thus arriving at the equation

average length of powder segments formed, and

, where

is the

is the length of the rod. Thus it

can be concluded that the velocity of sound in a rod is in direct proportion with the
length of the rod.
The velocity of sound in air, however, is dependent on the temperature of the
surrounding; where it can simply be explained by imagining that molecules in hotter
temperatures are more excited and move more freely than molecules in colder
temperatures. Thus, the velocity of sound in a rod is also dependent and in direct
proportion with temperature, since it is also dependent on the speed of air.

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