PHYS 211L - 003
Speed of Sound Lab Report
Parker Canty
Example Calculations
Data Sets
Frequency vs. Inverse Wavelength
Frequency
320
480
512
L1
0.26
0.17
0.15
L2
0.66
0.74
0.49
Wavelength
1
1.04
0.68
0.6
Wavelength
2
0.88
0.986666667
0.653333333
Average
Wavelength
0.96
0.833333333
0.626666667
Velocity
307.2
400
320.85
frequency vs. inverse wavelength
600
500
400
300
y = 295,45x + 59,418
200
100
0
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
requency vs. inverse wavelength
0,8
1
1,2
1,4
1,6
1,8
Линейная (requency vs. inverse wavelength)
Lab Manual Questions
1. Because I was not able to measure the diameter of the tube, I assumed that the diameter
was 1.5 inches
wavelength wavelength
avarage
frequency L1
L2
1
2
wavelength
velocity
320
0.28
0.68
1.116
0.905333333 1.010666667 323.41
480
0.19
0.76
0.756
1.012
0.884
424.32
512
0.17
0.51
0.676
0.678666667 0.677333333 346.79
2. The temperature in the room was 64 degrees Fahrenheit/18 degrees Celsius. Using this
value, the speed of sound would be 342.3 m/s. This value is close to the calculated values
and 320Hz and 512Hz, but is well off from the value calculated at 480Hz. The method of
measuring the water level was very inaccurate, so the calculated values shouldn’t be very
close to the theoretical speed of sound.
3. The speed of sound is directly proportional to the temperature of the air that it travels
through. If the temperature of the room were to fall, the calculated measurements would
be sure to fall as well
4. If the sound was travelling through water, it would slow drastically. The molecules in
water are heavier than those in air, and also have more cohesive forces interacting on
them, making them harder to move. This would distort the sound and lower the frequency
drastically since it takes more energy to move one of the molecules of water than that of
air. The calculated velocity would drop drastically
5. The moon has no atmosphere, so it would be impossible for any sound to travel since
sound requires a medium for transportation