Verifying the Speed of Sound

Introduction: One extremely important step in the scientific process is the verification and duplication of results. It is mandatory that other scientists are able to replicate the results to be sure that the result is valid. In this lab activity, you will use the concept of resonance to determine the wavelength of a sound wave of known frequency. You will then compute the speed of sound and compare it to the known value. Your job is to see how close you can get to the generally accepted value of the speed of sound which depends on temperature according to the following formula: Speed of sound in air = 331.4 + 0.6(Air Temperature in Celsius) A sliding trombone makes various notes by changing the length of the air column that vibrates. By blowing into the mouth piece, the player makes the air column in the trombone vibrate. When the length of the tube is changed by sliding the handle back and forth different pitches are heard as different frequencies of vibrating air are set into resonance. A vibrating tuning fork held over an open tube may vibrate the air column at its resonant frequency (the fixed frequency of the tuning fork). The length of the air column can be changed easily by placing the tube in water and moving it up and down. When the length of the air column matches the wavelength produced by the tuning fork the sound will be at its loudest. The sound is loudest when the air column is in resonance with the tuning fork. Materials: PVC pipe, graduated cylinder, meter stick, tuning fork Procedure: 1. Fill the cylinder with water to two thirds of its capacity. Place the resonance tube in the cylinder. You can vary the length of the air column in the tube by moving the tube up or down. 2. Record the frequency of the tuning fork: __________ 3. Softly strike the tuning fork (on hand or knee) and hold the fork horizontally with its tines one above the other, about 1 cm above the open end of the tube. Move both the fork and the tube up and down together to find the air column length that gives the loudest sound. There are several loud spots, but you are to locate the very loudest one with the shortest open tube length. Hold the tube steady at this point. 4. Measure the distance from the top of the resonance tube to the water level. Length of air column = ________________ meters 5. Measure the diameter of the resonance tube = ________________ meters. 6. To adjust for the small amount of air space between the tuning fork and the top of the resonance tube, add 0.4 times the diameter of the tube to the measured length of the air column. Corrected length = _____________________ meters 7. The corrected length is one fourth of the wavelength of the sound vibrating in the air column. Compute the wavelength of that sound. Wavelength = _______________ meters

8. Using the frequency and the wavelength of the sound, compute the speed of sound in air. Show your work. Speed of sound = _____________ meters/second 9. The accepted value for the speed of sound in air depends on the room temperature. Assume a value of 70 degrees Fahrenheit for room temperature and use the following formula to calculate the actual speed of sound in the room: speed of sound = 331.4 + 0.6Tc meters/second Tc is the temperature in Celsius...you have to do the conversion! Calculate the percent difference between your measured value from #8 and the accepted value. percent difference = _________________ 9. Repeat steps #1-8 for a tuning fork with a different frequency. 10. Determine the speed of sound in carbon dioxide by putting a small piece of dry ice in the graduated cylinder. Let the CO2 fill the resonance tube and then repeat the above steps using one tuning fork. 11. Determine what mass of dry ice in grams is needed to fill the volume of the resonance tube you used for one of the tuning forks. You learned how to do this in chemistry! WRITE-UP You will turn in a lab report which explains the process you used to verify the speed of sound in air. It should include the following sections: purpose, procedure (in your own words), data, analysis, conclusion (including error analysis). Explain the concept of resonance and why/how this experiment works. Record the results in a table and show the work for any calculations. When you show the work for the calculations, explain your steps! Dont just write the numbers down. Your conclusion should directly answer the purpose. Comment on any errors, problems with activity, and ideas for future experiments. You should imagine that you are submitting this report for publication to a scientific journal which will publish it to show verification or lack of verification of the accepted value for the speed of sound in air and CO2. You will have to look up the speed of sound in CO2. Section A and C: Due Monday March 24 Section B: Due Tuesday March 25