Speed of Sound in Air

Investigation 1: Speed of Sound in Air

Problem

What is the speed of sound in air? How does the temperature affect the speed of sound?

Title

Speed of sound in air experiment

Purpose

Determine and investigate the speed of sound in air and how does the temperature affect the speed of sound

Hypothesis

The speed of sound can be determine by the experiment, which use equation velocity equal distance divide by time. The temperature will affect the speed of sound depend on the degree.

Background information

When you watch a fire works display you can see that sound travels much more slowly than light. The flash of each explosion is seen before the sound is heard. Also the time difference increases as the fireworks climb higher. In this activity you will measure how fast sound travels through air.

Apparatus Materials

Ñ"8ÐŽ5 Thermometer

Ñ"8ÐŽ5 Stopwatch

Ñ"8ÐŽ5 Tap measure

Ñ"8ÐŽ5 Sound source (example 2 wooden blocks)

Ñ"8ÐŽ5 Ear protection against noise

Ñ"8ÐŽ5 Heavy gloves

Method

1. Find a place can stand at least 50m away from a wall

2. Measure the distance that between that wall and an observer.

3. Use the sound source to create a sound

4. Measure the time interval between producing the sound and hearing the echo

5. Measure the temperature of the air, so you can find the speed of sound by the equation v = 331 m/s + 0.59 m/s-1 Ѓ0†2C x T.

6. Repeat the experiment several times with a different distance and temperature to define the equation.

7. Use equation v=d/t to determine the speed of sound with no temperature affect. Compare to the equation v = 331 m/s + 0.59 m/s-1 Ѓ0†2C x T and investigate the different between them.

Observation