PHY19 Phase and group velocity

Purpose: Setup:
The ultrasonic phase velocity shall be determined in a test liq- Ultrasonic wave generator SC500 order no 20100
uid for various frequencies. Additionally, the group velocity of Hydrophone set order no 10251
a short ultrasound impulse will be measured. The dispersion Multifrequency probe order no 20138
of the sound velocity in the test liquid depends on phase and Ultrasonic gel order no 70200
group velocity. oscilloscope

Since the frequencies are known, the phase velocity can be cal-
culated without any other measurements: cP = f * l

The group velocity can be calculated from the time of flight t

and the distance probe- hydrophone s: cG = s / t

Procedure:
The multifrequency probe will be connected to the water filled
reservoir using ultrasonic gel and the hydrophone with holder
will be placed in the reservoir. The hydrophone signal will be
connected to an oscilloscope (channel 1). The sinus signal out-
put of the ultrasonic generator will be connected to channel 2
of the osci. For measurements in the frequency area of 5-10
MHz the time base on the osci is 100 ns/div or 50 ns/div. The
Basics: amplitude of hydrophone and sinus output shall be calibrated
The effect of dispersion demonstrates how the phase velocity de- to one another.
pends on the wave length. The group velocity cG follows by phase The distance between probe and hydrophone will be measured.
velocity cP after: Afterwards, slow and steady the hydrophone will be moved
dc away from the probe and the number of detected zero cross-
cG = cP − l P
dl ings of the curves can be measured. The distance between
If the distance (Dl) between probe and hydrophone changes, the shall be again measured after a certain amount of phases to
phases of the signal move on. determine the difference to the starting point. This should be
∆l ⋅ 2π repeated for 5 distances. Wave length and phase velocity then
∆φ =
λ can be determined. The whole process should be performed
The signals overlap repeatedly when moving forward. for various frequencies in the area between 5 and 10 MHz to
∆φ = 2p ⋅ n , n=1,2,... receive information if the phase velocity depends on the fre-
quency. The time of flight of an ultrasonic impulse can be mea-
The wave length can be determined from the distance between sured (TTL exit as trigger) by switching to pulse mode on the
probe and hydrophone. ultrasonic generator and choosing 1kHz repetition rate. The
∆l ⋅ 2p ∆l group velocity will be calculated out of the measured distance
l= = between probe and hydrophone and the time of flight.
∆φ n

Results: Dis pers ion in water

The phase velocities for 6 frequencies and 5 distances were determined,
mean values and standard deviations calculated. 1500
The distances were measured with a calliper.

x....distance probe hydrophone 1490

n...number of peaks
sound velocity in m/s

c...velocity 1480

f in MHz n 0 20 40 60 80 100 λ c
1470
5 x 40,3 46,3 52,2 58,1 64 70    
  λ 0.3 0.298 0,297 0,296 0,297 297,5+/-1,5 1487,4+/-7,4
  c   1500 1487,5 1483,3 1481,3 1485     1460
6 x 50,5 55,4 60,5 65,4 70,4 75,4    
  λ 0,245 0,25 0,248 0,249 0,249 248,2+/-1,9 1489,3+/-11,4 1450
  c   1470 1500 1490 1492,5 1494    
120 170 220 270 320
7 x 43,9 48,2 52,4 56,6 60,7 64,9    
  λ 0,215 0,213 0,212 0,21 0,21 211,8+/-2,1 1482,8+/-14,5 wave length in 10^-6 m
  c   1505 1487,5 1481,7 1470 1470    
8 x 36,7 40,4 44,1 47,9 51,5 55,3    
Pulse measurement: l = 10 cm
  λ 0,185 0,185 0,187 0,185 0,186 185,5+/-0,8 1484,3+/-6,1
t = 67,3 µs
  c   1480 1480 1493,3 1480 1488    
Group velocity v = 1485 m/s.
9 x 38,2 41,5 44,8 48,2 51,4 54,9     The diagram shows that there is no change in the
  λ 0,165 0,165 0,167 0,165 0,167 165,7+/-1,0 1491,6+/-9,1 phase velocity depending on the frequency (dcP/dl).
  c   1485 1485 1500 1485 1503     This demonstrates that the phase velocity does not
10 x 42,8 45,8 48,8 51,7 54,6 57,5     depend on the wave length. No dispersion in water
  λ 0,15 0,15 0,148 0,148 0,147 148,6+/-1,4 1485,7+/-13,9 appears in this frequency range. An additional
  c   1500 1500 1483,3 1475 1470     comparison with the group velocity confirms this
conclusion.

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