Determining the Speed of Sound invoking the phenomenon of

Wave interference in a Close-ended Pipe

Jesse S. Ceniza
Physics Department, University of Carlos, Cebu City
jessesalvaceniza@yahoo.com

Abstract
Wave speed is often expressed as the product of the wavelength and the frequency of the
wave. At normal atmospheric pressure, the temperature dependence of the speed of a sound
wave (v) through air is approximated by the following equation: v = 331 m/s + (0.6
m/s/C)•T, where T is the temperature of the air in degrees Celsius. The experiment was
conducted at normal atmospheric pressure with the temperature of the surrounding air is
closely monitored and kept constant at 26.5° C. In this experiment, the frequency of the
sound is already known as it is produced by a function generator. Its wavelength was
determined by investigating the sound intensity in a close-ended pipe. Since the wavelength
of a sound producing a standing wave in a pipe is twice the distance between successive
nodes or antinodes, the pipe used in the experiment contains a movable piston which can
slide in and out of the pipe to create different pipe lengths for the determination of
successive nodes or antinodes. The results show that the speed of sound is 347.2m/s which
yields a 0.806% error from what is theoretically projected – a manifestation that indeed the
speed of sound can be determined using the phenomenon of wave interference in a close-
ended pipe.

1. Introduction
People have always been interested on how fast or slow an object moves – for safety purposes, scientific
advancement, or just for curiosity’s sake. Instruments, like speedometer, have been developed to readily determine
the speed of an object. However, in most cases, speed is still something to be computed using parameters that are
within the bounds of its definition – the distance traveled per unit of time [1].
Taking into account that everything which travels has speed, more often than not, a tape measure, a ruler, or a
meter stick and a stop watch are insufficient for one to be able to measure the speed of an object especially when the
object travels relatively fast, like Sound.
It has been experimentally measured that at Standard Temperature and Pressure sound travels at 331 m/s [2]. But
the question is, how was this measured? Thus, this paper presents a method of determining the speed of sound using
the phenomenon of wave interference in a close-ended pipe.

2. Theory
A sound wave is a pressure disturbance which travels through a medium by means of particle-to-particle
interaction. As one particle becomes disturbed, it exerts a force on the next adjacent particle, thus disturbing that
particle from rest and transporting the energy through the medium [3]. Like any wave, the speed of a sound wave is
often thought about in term of one cycle of change; how far does it travel and how long does it take? The distance
traveled in one cycle is called the wavelength (L), and the time is called the period (T). Wave speed (v) is then the
ratio of the wavelength to the period. Often, the frequency (f) is used in place of the period. The frequency and the
period are reciprocals [4]. When frequency is used to express timing, the wave speed equation becomes
v=fL. (1)

To determine wave speed both frequency and wavelength must be measured. The frequency of sound may be
determined with an oscilloscope while the wavelength may be determined by investigating sound intensity in a tube.
A standing wave is created when sound waves are propagated through a pipe or tube. Thus, the wavelength of a
sound producing a standing wave in a tube is twice the distance between successive nodes, region of minimum
amplitude in a standing wave, or antinodes, region of maximum amplitude in a standing wave [4].
3..Methodology
The measurement setup is composed of the function generator (sound source), speaker, pipe, movable
plunger/piston, and oscilloscope as shown in figure 1. The sound source is connected to the speaker which is
attached to one end of the pipe. At the other end of the pipe, a movable plunger/piston is to which a microphone is
attached, is inserted in the other end of the pipe. An oscilloscope is used to analyze the frequency of the sound
produced by the function generator, as well as to detect the nodes and antinodes of the standing waves produced in
the pipe, since both the microphone and the function generator are connected to it.

Figure 1. Measurement Set-up

A sound produced by the function generator was fed to the speaker that was attached to the pipe. The frequency
of the sound generated was displayed in the first channel of the oscilloscope. To determine the distance between
successive nodes, the movable plunger/piston, to which a microphone that is connected to the second channel of the
oscilloscope is attached, was then inserted into the other end of the pipe. As depicted by the oscilloscope, the
antinodes are those regions with which a maximum peak to peak value for the signal in the second channel is
displayed. Similarly, the nodes are those regions which project the minimum peak to peak value in the second
channel. In this experiment, the distance between successive antinodes were noted as it more observable – it can be
clearly distinguished even without the signal from the second channel of the oscilloscope. Nevertheless, the peak-to-
peak value displayed by the second channel is used to reinforce the consistency of the distances measured. When an
anti-node is observed, the handle of the movable plunger/piston is marked. Four antinodes were located from which
the average distance between antinodes is computed. A tape measure is used to measure the distances between
antinodes.
The frequency of the sound that was introduced was varied from 800 Hz to 2000 Hz. For every frequency used,
the average distance between two antinodes was recorded correspondingly.

4. Results and Discussion

The frequency for the sound introduced was varied from 800 Hz to 2000 Hz. This so because lower than 800 Hz,
the antinodes span in a certain interval of distance which would introduce a greater amount of error in the
experiment since what should be gotten is a discrete value for the distance between antinodes. On the other hand,
sound of frequency greater than 2000Hz is also difficult to analyze since the distance between antinodes is relatively
small. Table 1 presents the data gathered from the experiment.
 Table 1. Corresponding Average Anti-node Distance of each Frequency

Average
Average Anti-
Frequency Anti-node Distances Anti-node
node Distance x 2
(Hertz) (m) Distance
(m)
(m)

874.0 .2020 .2000 .1970 .1997 0.3993

1000 .1760 .1755 .1730 .1748 0.3497

1352 .1300 .1290 .1285 .1292 0.2583

1605 .1080 .1090 .1095 .1088 0.2177

1957 .0900 .0880 .0900 .0893 0.1787

The reciprocal of the Frequency of sound waves used in the experiment is equal to the Period of the wave;
moreover, the Average Anti-node Distance x 2 is equal to its Wavelength. Table 2 summarizes this information.

Table 2. Corresponding Wavelength of each Period

Period Wavelength
(s) (m)
1.144 x 10-3 0.3993

1.000 x 10-3 0.3497

7.396 x 10-4 0.2583

6.231 x 10-4 0.2177

5.110 x 10-4 0.1787

To implicitly determine the speed of sound, the values in Table 2 are then plotted using MATLAB as shown in
Figure 2.

Figure 2. Wavelength vs. Period Graph

The equation y = 350x + 0.00032, which is generated by MATLAB, implies that the slope of the graph is equal to
350 m/s which happens to be the speed of sound obtained from the experiment.

4. Generalization
At normal atmospheric pressure, the speed of sound wave (v) through air is approximated by the following
equation:
(2)
v = 331 m/s + (0.6 m/s/C)•T,

where T is the temperature of the air in degrees Celsius [5]. Since the temperature of air when the experiment was
conducted was at about 27° C, theoretically, the speed should have been 347.2 m/s. In comparison with the
experimental value which is 350 m/s, a 0.806% error is acquired. This can be attributed to the following: human
error (error in judging and perceiving the antinodes, error in estimating the distance between antinodes),
instrumental error (limitation of the oscilloscope that it cannot display a steady frequency of the sound produced by
the function generator, limitation of the tape measure that it cannot give the exact distance between antinodes).
Furthermore, the temperature of air, which directly affects the theoretical speed, has its own set of human and
instrumental errors.
Nevertheless, a 0.806% error manifests that it is feasible to determine the speed of sound invoking the
phenomenon of wave interference in a closed-ended pipe.

References
1. http://physics.about.com/od/glossary/g/speed.htm
2. http://www.pstcc.edu/departments/natural_behavioral_sciences/Expm%2003.htm
3. http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/sound/u11l1c.html
4. http://hop.concord.org/s1/ext/s1e3.html#top
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound