Physics 302L

Standing Sound Waves in Air Columns

Objective: To investigate standing sound waves in air columns and to measure the speed of sound in air. Equipment: Resonance tube with piston, microphone, speaker, function generator, and Oscilloscope. Theory: Standing waves are created in an air column when a wave is reflected from the end of the column so that the returning wave interferes with the original wave. Standing waves occur in a closed tube when the following condition is satisfied: L n!"# Where L is the length of the tube, is the wavelength of the sound wave, and n is an odd integer !n"#, $, %&' ( standing sound wave has displacement nodes: points where the air does not vibrate, and displacement antinodes: points where the amplitude of the air vibration is a ma)imum. *ressure nodes and antinodes also e)ist within the waveform. +n fact, pressure nodes occur at displacement antinodes and pressure antinodes occur at displacement nodes. This can be understood b, thinking of a pressure antinode as being located between two displacement antinodes that vibrate #-./ out of phase with each other. When the air of the two displacement antinodes are moving toward each other, the pressure of the pressure antinode is a ma)imum. When the, are moving apart, the pressure goes to a minimum. Reflection of the sound wave occurs at both open and closed tube ends. +f the end of the tube is closed, the air has nowhere to go, so a displacement node !a pressure antinode' must e)ist at a closed end. +f the end of the tube is open, the pressure sta,s ver, nearl, at room pressure, so a pressure node !a displacement antinode' e)ists at an open end of the tube. +n this e)periment, when the diaphragm of a speaker vibrates, a sound wave is produced that propagates through the air. The sound wave consists of small motions of the air molecules toward and awa, from the speaker. The motion of a small volume of air in a sound wave is parallel to the direction of propagation of the wave. 0ecause of this, the sound wave is called a longitudinal wave. $OTE: When using the microphone to investigate the waveform within the tube, be aware that the microphone is a pressure transducer. ( ma)imum signal, therefore, indicates a pressure antinode !a displacement node' and a minimum signal indicates a pressure node !displacement antinode'.

%rocedure: #. Set the function generator to a fre1uenc, of ..% k23. Turn on the oscilloscope, the microphone, and the function generator. 4ove the piston to a position near the end of the tube. Turn the amplitude of the function generator up until ,ou can hear a sound from the speaker and observe a small signal on the screen of the oscilloscope. &&&'O $OT increase the amplitude of the signal from the function generator be,ond a 1uarter of the ma)imum amplitude otherwise the speaker can be damaged. 4ake sure the sound from the speaker is audible but not loud. 5. *ush the piston slowl, further into the tube, until a ma)imum in the amplitude of the signal is observed. (d6ust the piston accuratel, as to ma)imi3e ,our signal. Record the position of the piston. $. 7ontinue moving the piston into the tube until another standing wave is produced. Record the new position and repeat the procedure until ,ou have found and recorded all the piston positions along the tube that produce standing waves. 7alculate the distance between successive ma)ima. 8. Repeat the above procedure for a fre1uenc, of # and #.% k23. %. 9etermine the wavelength and the speed of the sound waves for each fre1uenc,. 7ompare to the theoretical value of sound waves in air. :sound" !$$#.%;..<.=T' where T is the temperature of air in .7. <. Set the function generator to # k23 and var, the position of the piston to obtain a standing wave pattern. =. +nsert the microphone into the tube and record the positions where the oscilloscope>s signal is a ma)imum and a minimum. -. Sketch the variations of the signal of the oscilloscope along the length of the tube. ?rom this deduce the sketch of the displacement nodes and antinodes. @. Repeat steps < and = for each length of the air column at which resonance occurs at # k23 !Aote that these values are alread, determined in the first part of the e)periment'. Record the number of displacement nodes for each length. #.. *lot the length of the tube as a function of the number of displacement nodes in the standing wave pattern. ?rom the slope, find the velocit, of sound in air.

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Standing Sound Waves in Air Columns

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