UMASS Boston The Science of Music & Speed of Sound Lab Report

User Generated

Ayhxraf98

Science

University Of Massachusetts Boston

Description

First, watch the following video to see how the experiment is done, then go to the instructions below

https://massasoit.instructuremedia.com/embed/e24abc30-d067-47a1-a4a4-47249c276b63

Objective: To determine the speed of sound in air.

Materials and Equipment: calculator

Method: The speed of sound is the most important number in our course. It determines the pitch of wind instruments, the time lag for echoes, and is important in the acoustics of concert halls.

We will send sound waves down a pipe by clapping near the pipe’s end. The WavePad app on a cell phone will be used to detect this sound wave and show a graph of it on the screen. The up and down line on the graph screen shows variation in air pressure in the sound wave. The wave will travel down the pipe and reflect from the far end and return. (Note that the sound wave will reflect from the far end even though this is an open end. More on how this is possible in chapter eight.)

The graph on the phone screen will show a large response when the sound wave is first created and passes by the phone’s microphone as it enters the pipe and later another large response when it arrives back after reflecting. The sound wave then reflects at the end with the phone and goes back down the pipe again and reflects again. This way we see multiple peaks each time the sound wave returns to the phone as the wave “bounces” back and forth. The time scale in the app, given in milliseconds (ms), will allow us to measure the time that it takes the sound wave to move down the pipe and return. Knowing distance traveled and the time of travel, we can calculate speed.

To see the very quick rise and decline of sound waves, we need to expand the time scale, spreading out the wave so we can see the details of detection and reflection. To allow enough time separation between the waves, we need a pipe that is at least 10 feet long. Since we could not supply such a long piece of pipe, I will show you a video of the procedure and a photo of the wave graph created in the WavePad app. (That I couldn’t get a 10 foot piece of pipe to you is the only reason I did not ask you to download the WavePad app and do the recording yourself.)

Procedure:

  1. Our pipe is 10 ft = 120 inches long, the standard for PVC pipe. Convert this into cm and then into meters.
  2. The reflection at the open end actually happens a small distance beyond the physical end of the pipe. This extra distance is 0.3 times the inside diameter of the pipe and the actual length of the ppe must be corrected by adding this amount. This standard PVC pipe has an inside diameter of 1.5 inches. Calculate this correction (ΔL) and convert it into meters.
  3. Add the pipe length in meters to the correction in meters. This is the distance the sound wave travels in one direction.
  4. Examine the image (below) of the phone screen with the graph of the sound wave on it. This has been expanded to show the time scale in as much detail as possible. The first set of long vertical lines on the left represents the detection of the first burst of sound waves as it passes the microphone on the way into the pipe. Find the largest vertical line (representing the maximum wave amplitude) and determine when (according to the time scale in the app) it moved past the microphone in the phone. To do this, follow that largest line down to the time scale and record the time in your data table as t1. This may not line up exactly with one of the time markers on the screen. You will probably need to estimate the fraction of the distance between two given time markers. For example, if the line in question is half way between the 120 and 125 markers, then the time is 122.5. Another example: if the line is 2/10 of the way between 160 and 170, then the time is 162. The units given are ms (milliseconds). (Reading “between the lines” in known in science as interpolation.) Sometimes the time is given in seconds. Note that 0.300 s equals 300 ms.
  5. Note the next group of vertical lines representing when the sound returned after being reflected at the far end. You can see that the lines are a little shorter than the first group because not all of the sound reflected back; some escaped out into the space beyond the pipe.
  6. Remember that we gain in precision when we measure larger quantities. In this case, instead of looking at the time over one interval (from the first wave to the second), let’s look at the time interval for multiple waves. Remember, we are counting the number of intervals between the waves spikes, not the spikes themselves. (From the first spike to the second is counted as “1.”) Each interval represents one round trip for the sound wave, to the other end and back. Determine the time after a number of wave spikes. Record the number of waves (intervals, not spikes) as well as the time as t2.
  7. The amount of time t for all the reflections and movements is the difference t = t2 – t1. Calculate this difference. Convert this time into seconds (s); it will be a small decimal.
  8. Calculate the total distance the waves traveled for the entire motion, including reflections and back and forth travel.
  9. Calculate the speed of sound: v = d/t
  10. The next step is to determine the standard (accepted) speed of sound. The speed of sound in air depends on the temperature of the air. (We’ll talk about why later.) The temperature in the room where I did the experiment was 25.0oC. (It was measured using a small thermometer like the one in your kit. You’ll use this thermometer for the same purpose later in the course.) The speed of sound is found using the formula. LaTeX: v\:=\:331\:+\:0.6\cdot Tcv=331+0.6Tc where Tc is the temperature in degrees Celsius; the result is in m/s. Calculate the speed of sound under the conditions of the experiment.
  11. Calculate the percent error of your results, using the calculated speed of sound from step 10 as the standard value. Note the abbreviations in the data table. “stan” means standard (the standard or accepted value for this temperature); “exp” means experimental (your result found from distance and time measurements).
  12. If you happen to have a 10 ft piece of pipe and want to try this by yourself, it might be fun and shouldn’t be too hard. You’ll have to download the WavePad app and experiment a little with it to see how it works.

Questions: 1. Did it matter how far from the pipe the clap was done? Why or why not?

2. Did it matter how far from the pipe the phone was located? Explain.

3. Suppose the pipe was stored outdoors during a cold winter's day, and then brought in, and the experiment was then done immediately. Would anything change? Explain.

Here is a screen shot of my phone with graph from the experiment:

Speed of Sound Phone Screen.jpg

Data Tables

L

Diam (inside)


ΔL

L (corrected)

Total d

t1

t2

t

Vs (exp)






Tc


Vs (stan)

Percent Error







Calculations:


Sources of Error:


Answers to Questions:


Conclusion:

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Explanation & Answer

Hello buddy, have a look at it

The Science of Music Lab
Lab Report – The Speed of Sound
Name:
Date:
Objective:
This lab was conducted to determine the speed of sound in air.
Data Tables
L
(m)

Diam
(inside)
(m)

3.000

0.0375

Tc
(0C)
25

ΔL (m)

L
(corrected)
(m)

0.01125

Vs (stan)
(m/s)
346

3.01125
Percent
Error

0.3%

Calculations:
Conversion
L
120 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒...


Anonymous
Very useful material for studying!

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