Questions and Problems

1. In the experiment when the rod is clamped at the center, why

are the ends of the rod are considered antinodes and not nodes?
At one end of the rod, it was being stroked, so the particles
there are those which have the maximum amplitude. The other
disc end was free, so the reflections of the wave constructively
interfere with the oncoming waves, thereby resulting in also
maximum amplitude.

2. How are the longitudinal waves in the solid rod similar to

longitudinal waves in a pipe open at both ends?
The positions of the nodes and antinodes in both rod and
pipe are the same; for the first harmonic there is a node in the
middle, and antinodes at both ends.

3. Calculate the fundamental frequency of a steel rod of length

2.00 m. What is the next possible standing wave frequency of this
rod? Where should the rod be clamped to excite a standing wave
of this frequency?
Given: L = 2.00 m
Fundamental wavelength: 1 = 2L = 2(2.00 m) = 4.00 m
1

Fundamental frequency:

speed of sound steel 5941m s

=
=1485.25 s1
1
4.00 m

2 = 2L/2 = (2.00 m) = 2.00 m

1

f2 =

v 5941 m s
=
=2970.5 s1
2
2.00 m

Interpretation of Results
The first part of the experiment asks to determine the velocity of sound in a
metal rod, particularly a brass rod, which is the Kundts tube. Vibrating the
rod produces longitudinal sound waves. The velocity of this sound wave
Lr
v
=v
r
a
travelling in the rod can be measured using the equation
La . Where
va, is the speed of air at a particular temperature; can be computed by the
equation:

v a =332+ 0.6 t

, where t is the temperature of the surrounding air. At

27C, which is the ambient air temperature when the experiment was being
done, the velocity of sound in air is 348.2 m/s. Lr is the length of the rod
being stroked and La is the average length of segments formed inside the
tube. Solving for the velocity of the sound in the rod, the value obtained is
3366.24 m/s. Comparing this to the actual value of the velocity of sound in
the Kundts tube which is 3475 m/s, a 3.13% percentage of error was
attained. This can be accounted maybe on the inaccuracy on the
measurement of the length of segments formed. The segments formed were
not exactly of the same lengths; therefore, the exact length can be hardly
determined.
Another way to measure the velocity of the sound in a rod is to use the

equation

vr =

Y
11
. Y is the Youngs modulus of the rod, which is 2.1 x 10

Pa. The rod is made of brass. On the other hand,

is the density of the

rod, which is 8553 kg/m3. The velocity of the sound in the rod acquired using

this method is 3261.83 m/s. Again putting this in comparison with the actual
value, a 3.20% percentage of error was obtained. The percentage of error is
slightly greater with the use of this method. It can be said that this method is
less accurate than the first method abovementioned because it does not
consider the wave properties of the sound travelling in the rod.