Standing Waves Lab

(2) The type of sound wave used for this experiment was longitudinal waves in which the vibration occurs along the direction of propagation

In this lab, we will be doing 3 major things: 1) Collecting and organizing data to obtain resonant points in a closed pipe, 2) measure the length of a closed-pipe resonator, and 3) analyze the data to determine the speed of sound.

The sound waves are produced by a random oscillating crystal, and are inaudible to humans. A instrument called a

In this experiment, the signal generator was set so that the frequency meter showed a reading of 1,803 Hz. The microphone was moved to a distance from the speaker so that the oscilloscope displayed a straight diagonal line. This position was of the microphone was recorded as the initial position, or beginning of a wavelength. The microphone was then moved farther in the same direction until the oscilloscope displays the same horizontal line. This position was recorded as final position, or the end of the wavelength. The distance between the two positions represents one wavelength for this frequency. This was repeated for frequencies of 2,402 Hz, 3,002, Hz, 3,602 Hz, and 4,201 Hz.

The main purpose of the lab is to study the two basic waves along with, their properties. The results we got were diverse from each other. The longitudinal waves compress than stretches to become a rarefaction. However, with the transverse waves, the medium was much slower when it was moving up and down. The only similarity that the waves share is that the energy travels through the slinky

-“The wave disturbance travels 300 m for each wavelength.” The speed of the wave does not determine how long the wave disturbance travels for each wavelength. We do not have enough information to determine that.

As the distance to an object is determined by measuring the time of flight and not by the intensity of the sound, ultrasonic sensors are excellent at suppressing background interference. Virtually all materials which reflect sound can be detected, regardless of their color. Even transparent materials or thin foils represent no problem for an ultrasonic

Sound waves are nothing more than an energy transfer through a medium be it through a liquid, solid, or a gas. Sound pressure or intensity is measured on logarithmic scale in decibels dB which increases on an order of magnitude. For instance a quiet conversation would be around 30 dB and whereas the human pain threshold would be just over 100 dB. While the pitch or frequency of the sound is measured in hertz or Hz, the higher the hertz the higher the pitch of the sound and vice versa (Hildebrand, 2004).

An Ultrasound Technician, also known as diagnostic medical sonographers, use high-frequency sound waves to create images of soft tissue in a patient's body. Physicians use these images to diagnose abnormalities and diseases in a patient. As early as 1826, a Swiss physicist name Jean-Daniel, had effectively used an underwater bell to determine the speed of sound in the waters of Lake Geneva. In the late 1800s, physicists were working successfully towards defining the fundamental physicists of sound waves, transmission, propagation, and refraction. Lord Rayleigh was the first to describe sound waves as a mathematical equation, forming the basis of future practical work in acoustics. Lord Rayleigh famous work “the Theory of Sound” was published

Burt Stephens 01-15-2015 Super Senses Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to tune your senses of sight and sound. Introduction: Sound is created when energy travels as waves of pressure through matter such as air, water, or even solid materials. Virtually everything that vibrates can yield sound. When something oscillates it pushes the particles around it, and those particles in turn push the air particles around them, moving the pulse of the vibration in all directions from the source.

If the above minor, surface error, and style points are addressed, I recommend this paper for publication. It is directly useful to an audience of undergraduates of physics and sufficiently supports both the existence of standing waves as well as wave interference. Additionally, the paper does a fairly good job of describing the experimental setup and logic in measurements. This lends to the reproducibility of the experiment and future modifications and

In this picture, I am plucking a chord on a violin. This is an example of simple harmonics and waves. The chords on a violin, or any stringed instrument, act as strings that are fixed at both ends. The vibration on the string, which was caused by me plucking it, is known as a standing wave, meaning it has nodes at both ends. The nodes are clearly seen as places where the amplitude is always zero. The antinodes are where the amplitude varies from zero to the maximum value. The first harmonic, or fundamental frequency, is seen in the picture. A wavelength is characterized as node to node to node. Therefore, for the first harmonic, the wavelength, ʎ, is equal to 2L, L being the length of the string. Since standing waves follow the standard relationship

A major error in the experiment is due to the measurement of the resonant point from the meniscus of the water to the phone generating the sound since it is difficult to get a precise measurement between the two objects. A common issue was aligning the meter stick with the phone so the meter stick would not make a 90 angle with the table. As a result, many of the wavelength measurements are slightly above or below its theoretical length. This would have skewed the data and made the experimental line of best fit different from the theoretical line of best fit since the data may be higher than it should theoretically be at one point, and lower than it should theoretically be at another point. Thus, it would likely result in a line of best fit that deviates than that of the theoretical relationship.

I have learned a lot from this lab about resonance. One of the things i learned was that the speed of sound may also depend upon the temperature of the room and also through the medium it travels. Another way we could do this lab is with a speaker and a microphone in order to amplify the sound coming from the tube. One thing i'm glad i learned through this lab is how to find antinodes in a standing wave.(From yacoub s.k.) BIBLIOGRAPHY- Blume, Daniel R. Reference.

The instrument that we constructed to investigate different soundwaves and frequencies each mediums produce with was the vertical chimes. We changed the medium (materials) that the sound waves travelled through. The chime is made up of a newton ball, pebble, mothball and marble. Unlike the wind chimes we didn’t use wind to make the instrument play but we used a metal spoon to hit each individual materials with. This experiment was ran during class by using an app that recorded the frequency of the sound that the vertical chime was producing. We had many challenges on the way like recording the frequency with the app, controlling the variable and getting the results.