Waves Lab

The measuring cylinder was then used to accurately measure out 20 mL of water, which was then poured into the test tube that would be used for the experiment. The test tube was then placed into the clamp, which was then adjusted in order to make sure that the test tube was grasped firmly and would not fall out.

For centuries, mariners have spread stories about giant sudden waves which appeared out of nowhere without warning which were strong enough to capsize even the mightiest and largest ships. Several vessels—such as the S.S. Waratah, the M.S. Munchen, and the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald—were all rumored to have been sunk by rogue waves (Walsh par. 3). Further, rogue waves have been blamed for ripping the bow off of a Norwegian freighter near the tip of South Africa in 1974, almost capsizing the Queen Elizabeth in 1942 off the coast of Greenland, striking the Queen Elizabeth H in 1995, and for swamping military aircraft carriers and tearing tankers in half (McDonald A21). These waves have also been immortalized in popular culture, as

The content of this section depends to a large extend on the nature of the experiment. Topics here should include a section labelled:

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 purpose of this experiment is to measure the speed of sound in air and to determine the effects of frequency on the speed of sound.

Hold one ball beside the top of the meter stick with the ZERO end touching the table.

The dependent variable is observed to see how it changes in response to the experimental variable.

5. Tie one end of the 60-cm string to the mass. Place the mass on a table below

The results obtained support the hypothesis at the beginning of the experiment. Apart from that, the experiment is conducted according to the instructions given. This increases the validity of the experiment.

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).

This is an experimental study because it involves the manipulation of the variables at various degrees and seeing the effects of such a manipulation.

String instruments, such as a guitar and violin, make their musical sounds when the musician either plucks the

It is within this framework that I consider important to study the way in which sound is

The red bar on the left acts as the driving piston. If it moves in a sinusoidal manner from left to right, then the wave that is produced will be a sinusoidal wave. Since the wave is sinusoidal, the wavelength, amplitude and frequency are constant. This is seen in nature as a tuning fork, which produces a periodic sound wave. In a one dimensional tube as shown above, each particle undergoes simple harmonic motion. The volume that is contained in one wavelength also undergoes this same motion. We can represent the displacement of this volume as:

     Back in Boston, Bell and Watson continued to work on the harmonic telegraph, but still with the telephone in mind. By accident on a June day in 1875, an intermittent transmitter produced a steady current and transmitted sound, when Watson tightened or loosened a particular screw it produced a sound that would vary in pitch. Bell had proof of his 1874 idea; he quickly