Question

Physics Lab: Speed of Sound

Please answer what you can!

Physics Pre Lab 13: Speed of Sound

1) Why is it important to measure the temperature of the room when performing the experiment?

2) What is a standing wave? Explain in words as well as in an equation.

3) The fundamental node occurs when the water level has dropped to what percentage of a wavelength?

4) Explain why in fluids only longitudinal waves can propagate through them.

5) If you have a tuning fork with frequency 304 Hz, and you calculate the wavelength to be 53.2 cm, what is the speed of sound? Use MKS units.

Answer 1

1) It is important to measure the temperature because the speed of sound is a function of temperature. Molecules at higher temperatures have more energy, thus they can vibrate faster. Since the molecules vibrate faster,  waves can travel more quickly. More the temperature, more is the speed of sound

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2) Waves that result from the interference of two or more waves traveling in the same medium are called standing waves. These waves have nodes and antinodes.

The equation of standing wave is given as

y = A sin (kx) cos (wt)

where A is the amplitude and w is the angular frequency

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3) did not get the question........can you give more details

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4)

The propagation of waves depends upon the medium through which they propagate. For transverse waves to travel through a medium the interatomic forces should be stronger. However, in case of liquids, these forces are not stronger and the particles transfer their energy in longitudinal direction.

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5) speed = wavelength * frequency

speed = 0.532 * 304

speed = 161.73 m/s