Physics Lab report #24

Fei Huo

Physics Lab Report#24

Determining the speed of sound air

Name: Fei Huo

Date performed: April 30th , 2015
Period 5

Physics Lab report #24

Fei Huo

Purpose: The purpose of this lab was for my classmates and I to measure the speed of
sound in the air using the vibration of the different types of tuning forks.

Introduction: In this lab, my classmates and I were experimenting the speed of sound
in the air by hearing the resonance from the cylinder as we pull it up while having the
vibrating tuning fork slightly above the cylinder.

Procedure:
1. first, get the tuning fork with the frequency of 512 and hit it on the green bar and
put it slightly above the top of the cylinder as you pull the cylinder up until you
hear the resonance and stop to measure the distance with the meter stick and
record the length in meters in your data table.
2. Then, do the same process with the tuning fork of 426, 381, 288 and 256; record
your data in the table.
Data:
Trial #

Frequency (M) Measured

(f) (Hz)

Corrected

Wavelength

length of air column Length of air

(meters)

Speed (v)
(m/s)

column
L=M+0.4d

256

0.382

0.32

1.28

327

288

0.28

0.292

1.168

336

384

0.208

0.22

0.88

338

426

0.19

0.202

0.808

344

512

0.155

0.167

0.668

342

Physics Lab report #24

Fei Huo

Questions:
1. Using the data from Table # 1, plot a graph of wavelength ( ) (Y-axis) vs.(f) (X-axis).
What types of relationship exist between wavelength and frequency? How can you tell?
Inverse relation ship because the graph is a curve
2. The speed of sound in air can be expressed as 331 m/sec at 0C. It increases 0.6 m/sec
for each Celsius degree above zero. Assume the temperature of the room is 25C.
Calculate the speed of the sound in m/sec at this temperature.
331+0.6(25C)
331+ 15= 346
3. Using your review books and class notes define:
a. Resonance: the vibration of a body at its natural frequency due to the action of a vibrati
on source of the same frequency.
b. Standing Waves: a pattern of wave crests and troughs that remains stationary in a medi
um when two waves of equal frequency and amplitude pass through the medium in oppos
ite directions.
4. Describe some of the ways in which a sound wave differs from a light wave.
Sound Waves require a medium, they are longitudes, they are also mechanical, and it is al
so and faster than light wave.
Light wave is transverse, E.M waves, it is also a pulse, and slower than sound waves.
5. An observer sees a lightening flash from a distance thunderstorm and 12 seconds later,
hears the sound. If the temperature of the air is 20C how far from the storm is the observ
er? (Assume that light travels instantaneously).
D=VT
D= (331 m/s)(20C)
D= 79440
6. In terms of sound and its properties, explain why the movie Star Wars was technically i
naccurate during the battle scenes in space.
Because sound waves need a medium to go to and in space there is nothing therefore ther
e should be no sound from the explosions and the sound effects.

Physics Lab report #24

Fei Huo

7. Using your reference tables, if it were possible to send a sound around the surface of th
e earth, how long would it take?
V=d/t
D=C=2r
D=2 (6.37x10^6)
D= 1.360641766 x 10^12
Answers of 4-8 are included in data.

Conclusion:
The purpose of this lab was to use the method of resonance to determine the
speed of sound in air by finding wavelength and frequency and using the equation
velocity = wavelength x frequency. In this lab I learned how to find the speed of sound in
air and how to find the wavelength and frequency in order to do so. I also learned more
about sound waves and about resonance. Although my data was mostly accurate, a source
of error in this lab couldve been due to the fact that the tube mightve been moved while
we were trying to measure its length, resulting in a difference between the data recorded
and what would be accurate. A way to cancel out this source of error could be to try to
keep the tube more steady while measuring it, or use an apparatus that would hold the
tube in place. Another way to cancel out this source of error is to measure the tube a few
times and then calculate the average. This would make the length that is recorded more
accurate than it would be just doing it once. This lab was fun and interesting because I
learned a lot and because it was interesting to be able to figure out the speed of sound in
air.

Physics Lab report #24

Fei Huo