Standing Waves Lab
Objective
The objective of this lab was to use standing waves in a resonance tube in order to measure the speed of sound. Standing waves were used due their constructive and destructive interference, which lead to nodes and antinodes in the wave.The nodes could be marked because they were silent, and the antinodes were loud.
Hypothesis
We expect to find a linear relationship between wavelength and period because the speed of sound is constant. The frequency will inversely change the wavelength, leading to a constant velocity.
Methods
The speaker at the top was set to various frequencies and water gradually filled into the resonance tube. The nodes were observed by the class auditorily and marked on the tube by a volunteer. The class worked …show more content…
Hirsh before each test. The �/2 represent the distance between measured nodes. The � average represents the average of the distance between nodes doubled. The velocity was calculated by multiplying the frequency and average wavelength. The period, represented by T, was the inverse of the frequency.
This graph shows the relationship between the period and wavelength. The slope of the line is linear with the slope representing the velocity of the wavelength.
Conclusion
We expect to find a linear relationship between wavelength and period because the speed of sound is constant. Based on the data, the hypothesis was supported with the speed of sound having a velocity of 354 m/s.There is a clear relationship between the velocity of waves with differing frequencies within the same medium. All of the the waves traveled through an identical medium in the resonance tube. At the three different frequencies the speed measured was between 344 m/s and 356.4 m/s - all within the 10% error of this lab. Although the speed of sounds is closer to 343 m/s (in air) than 354 m/s, our hypothesis was still supported because all of our data is related with a linear regression of .999. All of the different frequencies were played within the exact medium, but the medium differed a little bit regularly from regular air. The water may have increased the humidity of the air in the tube, allowing the waves to travel at a …show more content…
The first was measurement error; the nodes markings were measured with a meter stick. The measurements for each half wavelength were slightly incorrect to due rounding, about + or - .01 meters from the actual markings. Another source of error would be the perception of each nodes. Ideally, each ½ wavelength measurement would be the same because each node of a standing wave are equally distanced from each other. The error is pinpointing the nodes came from the classes’ perception of each node. The location of each node may have been marked + or- .01 meters away from the actual node. An additional source of error would be the frequency of the speaker. The speaker was set to frequencies of 600, 800, and 440 however the speaker emitted + or - .1 Hz from the set frequency. With the above source of error, the total measurement error for this lab is about
The objective of this lab was to use standing waves in a resonance tube in order to measure the speed of sound. Standing waves were used due their constructive and destructive interference, which lead to nodes and antinodes in the wave.The nodes could be marked because they were silent, and the antinodes were loud.
Hypothesis
We expect to find a linear relationship between wavelength and period because the speed of sound is constant. The frequency will inversely change the wavelength, leading to a constant velocity.
Methods
The speaker at the top was set to various frequencies and water gradually filled into the resonance tube. The nodes were observed by the class auditorily and marked on the tube by a volunteer. The class worked …show more content…
Hirsh before each test. The �/2 represent the distance between measured nodes. The � average represents the average of the distance between nodes doubled. The velocity was calculated by multiplying the frequency and average wavelength. The period, represented by T, was the inverse of the frequency.
This graph shows the relationship between the period and wavelength. The slope of the line is linear with the slope representing the velocity of the wavelength.
Conclusion
We expect to find a linear relationship between wavelength and period because the speed of sound is constant. Based on the data, the hypothesis was supported with the speed of sound having a velocity of 354 m/s.There is a clear relationship between the velocity of waves with differing frequencies within the same medium. All of the the waves traveled through an identical medium in the resonance tube. At the three different frequencies the speed measured was between 344 m/s and 356.4 m/s - all within the 10% error of this lab. Although the speed of sounds is closer to 343 m/s (in air) than 354 m/s, our hypothesis was still supported because all of our data is related with a linear regression of .999. All of the different frequencies were played within the exact medium, but the medium differed a little bit regularly from regular air. The water may have increased the humidity of the air in the tube, allowing the waves to travel at a …show more content…
The first was measurement error; the nodes markings were measured with a meter stick. The measurements for each half wavelength were slightly incorrect to due rounding, about + or - .01 meters from the actual markings. Another source of error would be the perception of each nodes. Ideally, each ½ wavelength measurement would be the same because each node of a standing wave are equally distanced from each other. The error is pinpointing the nodes came from the classes’ perception of each node. The location of each node may have been marked + or- .01 meters away from the actual node. An additional source of error would be the frequency of the speaker. The speaker was set to frequencies of 600, 800, and 440 however the speaker emitted + or - .1 Hz from the set frequency. With the above source of error, the total measurement error for this lab is about