Prelab: Sound

Name: Date:
Group members: Instructor:

1. You are given a pipe of length L, which is closed at one end. You snap your fingers
near the opening of the pipe at time t1 and hear the echo at time t2 . Give an expression
for the speed of sound vs . (4 pts.)

2. What is the frequency of the sound wave given in figure below? (3 pts.)

3. What is the beat frequency of the given waveform? (3 pts.)

Prelab: Sound 1
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 EXPERIMENT
Sound

Objectives

In this experiment, the students are expected to:

• Determine the speed of sound experimentally and compare with the accepted value

• Measure the frequency and period of sound produced by tuning forks

• Measure and analyze the sound waves produced by two tuning forks simultaneously

Introduction

Sound waves are longitudinal pressure waves passing through a medium such as air, solid
or liquid that have frequencies within the range of human hearing. These may also be in a
form not audible enough to be perceived by humans. In this experiment, we will measure
the speed of sound in air by detecting the echo or reflected sound of a snap produced by
your fingers. We will also study beats, which is the interference of two sound waves with
slightly different frequencies, using two tuning forks and a Vernier microphone.
Sound waves are produced by a vibrating object and propagate as pressure waves: air
molecules are disturbed, moving back and forth parallel to the disturbance. To under-
stand how sound waves are produced, consider a loudspeaker. When its diaphragm moves
outward, the air in front of it is compressed and will cause an increase in air pressure.
This region with increased pressure is called condensation. After producing the conden-
sation region, the diaphragm immediately reverses its motion and moves inward. The
inward motion produces a region known as rarefaction, with pressure less than that of the
ambient surrounding air. These oscillatory changes in pressure propagate and arrive at
the ear, which forces the eardrum to vibrate with the same frequency as the loudspeaker.
The vibration of the eardrum is interpreted by the brain as sound.

Speed of Sound
Compared to most things you study in the physics lab, sound waves travel very fast. It
is fast enough that measuring the speed of sound is a technical challenge. One method
you could use would be to time an echo. For example, if you were in an open field with
a large building a quarter of a kilometer away, you could start a stopwatch when a loud
noise was made and stop it when you heard the echo. You could then calculate the speed
of sound.

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In order to use the same technique over short distances, you need a faster timing system,
such as a data-collection interface. In this experiment, you will use this technique with
a Microphone connected to an interface to determine the speed of sound at room tem-
perature. The Microphone will be placed next to the opening of a hollow tube. When
you make a sound by snapping your fingers next to the opening, the computer will begin
collecting data. After the sound reflects off the opposite end of the tube, a graph will be
displayed showing the initial sound and the echo. You will then be able to determine the
round trip time and calculate the speed of sound.

Figure 1: Diagram of the Sound Experiment Set-up.

Harmonic Waves and Beat

Sound waves consist of a series of air pressure variations. A Microphone diaphragm
records these variations by moving in response to the pressure changes. The diaphragm
motion is then converted to an electrical signal. Using a Microphone and an interface,
you can explore the properties of common sounds.
The first property you will measure is the period, or the time for one complete cycle of
repetition. Since period is a time measurement, it is usually written as T . The reciprocal
of the period (1/T ) is called the frequency, f , the number of complete cycles per second.
Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz). 1 Hz = 1 s−1 . In analyzing your data, you will
see how well a sine function model fits the data. The displacement of the particles in
the medium carrying a periodic wave can be modeled with a sinusoidal function. Your
textbook may have an expression resembling this one:

y = A sin (2πf t) (1)

In the case of sound, a longitudinal wave, y refers to the change in air pressure that makes
up the wave, A is the amplitude of the wave, and f is the frequency. Time is represented
by t, and the sine function requires a factor of 2 when evaluated in radians.
When two sound waves overlap, air pressure variations will combine. For sound waves,
this combination is additive. We say that sound follows the principle of linear superpo-
sition. Beats are an example of superposition. Two sounds of nearly the same frequency
will create a distinctive variation of sound amplitude, which we call beats.

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Figure 2: Sample the graph of the beat frequency.

Materials

The following materials are required for the experiment:

• Vernier LabQuest • Two (2) iron stands

• Vernier microphone • Two (2) iron clamps
• 1.0 m pipe, capped at one end • Meter stick
• Two (2) tuning forks (384 Hz, 512 Hz) • USB-compatible storage device
• Rubber stopper

Procedure

Speed of Sound
1. Measure the length of the pipe. Record this in Table W1.
2. Measure the air temperature of the classroom using the built-in thermometer of the
Vernier LabQuest and record the value in Table W1.
3. Mount the microphone and the pipe on the iron stand using the iron clamp according
to Figure 1. Place the microphone as close to the open end of the pipe as possible.
Position it so that it can detect the initial sound and the echo coming back down
the tube.
4. Connect the microphone to Channel 1 of the Vernier LabQuest. The screen should
display a Sound Pressure reading.
5. Go to Data Collection in the Sensors tab and press the “Enable Triggering” check-
box. This will allow the Vernier LabQuest to start collecting data only after the

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sound pressure increases to a certain value. Ask your instructor for the correct
sound pressure value.

Figure 3: Sample Pressure vs. Time graph for the snapping of your fingers.

6. Tap the Collect button to begin data collection. Snap your fingers near the opening
of the tube. This sharp sound will trigger the interface to begin collecting data. If
you are successful, the graph will resemble the one in Figure 3.

7. Determine the time interval between the start of the first vibration and the start
of the echo vibration. Record this value in Table W2.

8. Repeat the measurement for a total of three trials.

9. Export your data into your USB-compatible storage device. Graph the Pressure
vs. Time plot of one of your trials. Mark the portion of the plot that indicates the
start of the vibration from the sound of the snap and the start of the echo duration.
Place this plot in Figure 5.

Harmonic Waves and Beat

1. Determine the theoretical frequency of the two tunning forks by looking at the
engraved value at the handle of each fork.

2. Disable triggering by going to Data Collection in the Sensors tab and unchecking
the “Enable Triggering” checkbox.

3. Hit the rubber with one tuning fork, hold it close to the microphone, then tap the
Collect button. These must be done in quick succession. You should be able to
observe a sinusoidal curve in the Pressure vs. Time plot.

4. Count and record the number of complete cycles shown after the first peak in your
data.

5. Measure the time between the first and last peaks of the waveform. Divide this by
the number of cycles to determine the period of the waveform.

6. Calculate the frequency of the tuning fork in Hz and record it in Table W3.

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7. Repeat this for three trials.

8. Do the same for the other tuning fork.

9. To observe the beats, simultaneously hit the rubber with the two tuning forks, hold
them close to the microphone, then tap the Collect button. These must be done in
quick succession.

10. The pattern will be complex, with a slower variation of amplitude on top of a more
rapid variation. An example of a beat pattern is shown in Figure 4. Ignoring the
more rapid variation and concentrating in the overall pattern, Table Table W3.

Figure 4: Diagram of the Sound Experiment set-up.

11. As you did before, find the time interval for several complete beats. Divide the
difference, ∆t, by the number of cycles to determine the period of beats (in seconds).
Calculate the beat frequency in Hz from the beat period. Record these values in
Table W4.

12. Repeat this for three trials.

13. Export your data into your USB-compatible storage device. Graph the Pressure
vs. Time plot of one of your trials. Mark the portion of the plot that indicates the
start of the vibration from the sound of the snap and the start of the echo duration.
Place this plot in Figure 6.

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Physics 71.1 1st Sem, A.Y. 2019–2020

Name: Date:
Group members: Instructor:

Data Sheet

Table W1: Length of Tube and Temperature of Room

Length of tube (m)

Temperature of room (◦ C)

Table W2: Echo Time

Trial Total travel time (s)

1
2
3
Average
Vsound (m/s)

Figure 5: Pressure vs. Time graph of sound created by the snapping of fingers.

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Table W3: Frequency of Tuning Forks

Number of Average Calculated Percent

∆t Period
Frequency Cycles Period Frequency Error
(s) (s) (s) (Hz) (%)

f1 = 384 Hz

f2 = 512 Hz

Table W4: Beat Frequency

Beat Number of Average Calculated Percent

∆t Period
Frequency Cycles Period Frequency Error
|f1 –f2 | (s) (s) (s) (Hz) (%)

Figure 6: Pressure vs. Time graph of sound created by the two tuning forks.

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Questions

Answer the following questions in no more than two sentences.

1. The accepted speed of sound at atmospheric pressure and 0 ◦ C is 331.5 m/s. The
speed of sound increases 0.607 m/s for every ◦ C. Calculate the speed of sound at
the temperature of your room. Is your result acceptable?

2. Give two possible sources of errors which might have caused the deviations from
the theoretical speed of sound.

3. What happens to the frequency and amplitude of the experimentally obtained pat-
tern if the tuning fork is placed farther from the mic?

4. Was the beat pattern you obtained similar to that in Figure 4? What might have
caused the deviations from the correct pattern in some trials?

Sound 11