Sound is a longitudinal wave requiring a medium for it to propagate.

The speed of
sound is dependent on the properties of the medium such as bulk modulus, density,
and temperature. The velocity of sound traveling in any medium may be determined if
the frequency and the wavelength are known. The relationship between these
quantities is:

v = f

Where v = velocity of sound propagation, f = frequency and = wavelength.

In this experiment, the velocity of sound in air is to be found by using tuning forks of
known frequency. The wavelength () of the sound will be determined by utilizing the
resonance of an air column. The length of the water column may be changed by
raising or lowering the water level with the tuning fork, which is being held over on
the open end of the tube. The sudden increase in the intensity of the sound when the
column is adjusted to the proper length indicates resonance, a standing wave
phenomenon in the air column, the part where a louder sound is produced. The water
surface constitutes a node of the standing wave since the air is not free to move
longitudinally.

Increasing the length of the air column, more wavelength segments will fit into the
tube, consistent with the node-anti node requirements at the ends. Subtract the
resonance length for /4 from those for 3 /4, 5 /4 to get L.

= 4L + 0.3 D

where = sound produced, L = distance between the resonance point and the top of
the tube, D = diameter of the tube. Once the wavelength of sound is determined, it can
be used to determine the velocity of sound by applying it to the formula v = f.

For speed of sound in air, the same principle is applied but the length of the tube is
divided by of the interval since the sound bounces back from antinode to antinode.

In solids, the speed of sound for waves in stiff materials such as rods, where the
diameter (D) is shorter than the wavelength (), the speed of sound waves is given by:
 =

where Vrod= velocity of the rod, Y is the Young's modulus and is the density of the
rod. The velocity of the rod may be obtained by utilizing the previous formula Vrod=
frod.

When arranged according to increasing sound velocity; sound velocity of gas < sound
velocity of liquid < sound velocity of solids.

References:
http://amrita.olabs.edu.in/?sub=1&brch=5&sim=36&cnt=1
http://faculty.sacredheart.edu/slametm/lab2/exp2resonance/2theory.html
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Class/PhSciLab/restube2.html