Geophysical Techniques

Lab Report: Velocity of sound in liquids

I) Aim:
Calculate the velocity of sound, using ultrasonic interferometer
consisting of aqua grating and ultra sound transmitter, in two liquids:
 Distilled water
 Ethanol

II) Theory:

 Sound waves:
A sound wave is the pattern of disturbance caused by the movement of
energy traveling through a medium (such as air, water, or any other liquid or
solid matter) as it propagates away from the
source of the sound. The source is some
object that causes a vibration, such as a
ringing telephone, or a person's vocal chords.
The vibration disturbs the particles in the
surrounding medium; those particles disturb
those next to them, and so on. The pattern of
the disturbance creates outward movement in
a wave pattern, like waves of seawater on the ocean. The wave carries the
sound energy through the medium, usually in all directions and less
intensely as it moves farther from the source.

 Ultrasonic waves:
Ultrasounds are sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible
limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from 'normal' (audible)
sound in its physical properties, only in that humans cannot hear it. This
limit varies from person to person and is approximately 20 kilohertz (20,000
hertz) in healthy, young adults. Ultrasounds devices operate with frequencies
from 20 kHz up to several gigahertz. They are generated by inducing
vibrations in a quartz crystal with an applied alternating electric field.
Ultrasound is used in many different fields. Ultrasonic devices are used to
detect objects and measure distances. Ultrasound imaging or sonography is
often used in medicine. In the nondestructive testing of products and
structures, ultrasound is used to detect invisible flaws. Industrially,
ultrasound is used for cleaning, mixing, and to accelerate chemical
processes. Animals such as bats and porpoises use ultrasound for
locating prey and obstacles. Scientists are also studying ultrasound
using graphene diaphragms as a method of communication.

 Velocity of sound
In general, velocity of waves depends only on the properties of the medium
through which the disturbance travel.
The speed of sound in any medium is dependent upon the coefficient of
stiffness (modulus of bulk elasticity for gas mediums). Density and/or
compressibility alone do not determine the speed of sound.
𝐾
The velocity of sound is given by: 𝑣 = √𝜌

Where v is the velocity/speed of sound

𝜌 is the density of the medium
K is the bulk modulus of the medium
In a lighter medium, the velocity of sound is greater than that in a
denser medium. Therefore, the velocity of sound in air is slower than
that in water since water is denser than air.
It is difficult to determine bulk
modulus of liquid compared to
solids. Therefore, interference
method is used in order to determine
sound velocity in various liquid
media.
When sound travels in a liquid
medium, the molecules of the liquid start vibrating perpendicular to the
direction of wave propagation, depending on the density and its bulk
modulus the amplitude and the frequency of vibration will change. Thus, the
velocity of sound is different for different liquids.

 Standing waves

Standing waves, also known as stationary waves, are produced whenever

two waves of identical frequency interfere with one another while travelling
in opposite directions along the same medium. In other words, standing
waves are the interference of the incident and reflected waves.

These waves remain in a constant position and there is on average no

transfer of energy. This means that the wave patterns do not move left or
right, in other words, the location of the maxima and minima do not change.

A standing wave pattern always consists of an alternating pattern of nodes

and antinodes.

Nodes are the points along the standing wave where the wave has the
minimum amplitude. They are the points of no displacement from the rest
position (standstill). They are caused by destructive interference of the two
waves.

Antinodes are the points along the standing wave where the wave has the
maximum amplitude. They are the points of maximum displacement from
the rest position. They are caused by constructive interference of the two
waves.
𝜆
The distance between two antinodes or two nodes is 𝑥 = 2

Experiment:
When a monochromatic sodium light of wavelength 𝛌Na incident on this
medium, ultra sound and sound waves start moving in the liquid along the
length of the glass vessel, their wave gets reflected back from the opposite
side of the glass vessel and a standing wave pattern is formed.
Many fringes will be formed. The intense of fringes are those of maximum
amplitude, and the less intense are those of minimum amplitude. The
maximum amplitude is obtained when the path difference of the wave front
equals to an integer number of sodium wavelength.

The trough (node) and the crest (antinode) of the standing wave act like
transparent and opaque regions for the incident light. The incident light
passes through the trough region and is blocked by the crest region of the
standing wave. In between the trough and the crest the light passes through
with varying intensities.
𝜆
The spacing of the interference fringes is 𝑑 = 2
Knowing the equation 2𝑑𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝑛𝝀 and substituting d by its value in it we
𝑛𝜆
will get 𝜆′ =
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
By measuring the diffraction angle 𝜃 we can determine the wavelength of
the ultrasound using the last equation
Hence, we can determine the velocity of the ultrasound in liquid using the
equation 𝑣 = 𝑓 × 𝜆′

Where d is the grating constant or grating spacing

𝜃 is the angle of diffraction
n is the order of the spectrum
𝛌 is the wavelength of the incident light
V is the velocity of the ultrasound in liquid
F is the frequency of the ultrasound wave
𝛌’ is the wavelength of the ultrasound wave

𝜃 is calculated from 2𝜃𝑛 = 𝜃𝑛𝑅 − 𝜃𝑛𝐿

where 𝜃𝑛 is the angle of diffraction of the nth order
𝜃𝑛𝑅 is spectrometer reading corresponding to nth order line on the
right
𝜃𝑛𝐿 is spectrometer reading corresponding to nth order line on the left
III) Apparatus:
 Ultrasonic generator
 Rectangular plate glass vessel
 Monochromatic light
 Lens (𝑓 = 20𝑚𝑚)
  Telescope
 Spectrometer
 Right angle clamp
 Support rod
 Distilled water
 Ethanol
 Crystal

IV) Procedure:

1. We take a rectangular plate glass vessel, which is filled with the liquid
under study. The glass vessel is illuminated by a monochromatic light
perpendicular to its length.
2. A telescope is adjusted to catch the distant image very clearly.
3. The spectrometer is now placed in front of a sodium vapor lamp, the
slit is illuminated and the collimator is adjusted to set the clear slit
image.
4. The liquid in the glass is connected to sound wave source. The
frequency of the sine wave transmitter is adjusted viewing through the
telescope until the slit images split to give number of fine lines and
the frequency f of the input sine wave is noted.
5. The central slit image first order spectral line on left (𝜃1L) and the first
order spectral line on the right (𝜃1R) are identified in the observed
spectrum.
6. We calculate the angular separation for the first order spectral line;
wave length and the velocity of the ultrasonic wave are also
calculated.
7. We repeat the precedent steps for the two liquids (calculating
wavelength and velocity of ultrasonic source) with the same
frequency.

V) Calculations and Results:

We choose a frequency that gives me a wide difference between fringes only

one fringe left and other right in order to calculate the velocity of sound.
Given: The frequency of ultrasound is 𝑓 = 4.5 × 106 𝐻𝑧
 The wavelength of sodium is 𝜆 𝑁𝑎 = 5893 × 10−10 𝑚

 For distilled water:

Right fringe is at: 𝜃𝑅 = 0.5°
Left fringe is at : 𝜃𝐿 = 0°
2𝜃1 = 𝜃1𝑅 − 𝜃1𝐿 = 0.5 − 0 = 0.5° ∴ 𝜃1 = 0.25°.
′
𝜆 5893 × 10−10
𝜆 = = = 1.35 × 10−4 𝑚
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃1 sin(0.25)
𝑣 = 𝑓𝜆′ = 4.5 × 106 × 1.35 × 10−4 = 6.075 × 102 = 608 𝑚. 𝑠 −1

 For ethanol:
Right fringe is at: 𝜃𝑅 = 0.57°
Left fringe is at : 𝜃𝐿 = 0.25°
2𝜃1 = 𝜃1𝑅 − 𝜃1𝐿 = 0.57 − 0.25 = 0.32° ∴ 𝜃1 = 0.16°.
𝜆 5893×10−10
𝜆′ = = = 2.11 × 10−4 𝑚
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃1 sin(0.16)

𝑣 = 𝑓𝜆′ = 4.5 × 106 × 2.11 × 10−4 = 9.495 × 102 = 949.5 𝑚. 𝑠 −1

VI) Conclusion:
Compare the velocity of sound in water and in ethanol and then conclude the
relation between the speed and the density.
Velocity of sound in distilled water is 608 m/s which is less than that in
ethanol which is equal to 949.5 m/s.
Experimentally, we did not take into consideration the bulk modulus K.
Density of water is greater than that of ethanol and the velocity of sound in
water as we said before is less than that in ethanol. Therefore, the velocity is
inversely proportional to the density of the medium. In other words as
density of the medium increases, the velocity of sound in it decreases.
However, theoretically, we take into consideration the bulk modulus.
As a result, we can notice that as bulk modulus of a medium increases,
velocity of sound in that medium increases. Hence, this tells us that as
density increases, velocity increases.