Practise planning a distance-and-time experiment for sound speed, including apparatus, timing method, calculation and ways to reduce measurement uncertainty.
Describe an experiment to determine the speed of sound in air. State the apparatus you need, details of how to take measurements and how to calculate the speed of sound in air.
You may use the space below to draw a labelled diagram as part of your answer.
method of producing sound, e.g. clap for echo method or gun for direct measurement, sig gen or loudspeaker, hammer
on block
apparatus used, e.g. stopwatch, long tape, trundle wheel, wall if using echo method, metre rule, microphones and timer or
microphones and oscilloscope
detail of measurement of (long) distance, e.g. measure distance between person and the wall, measure distance between
loudspeaker and microphone or measure distance between two microphones
detail of measurement of time OR appropriate time measured, e.g. at one end start stopwatch when smoke seen from
gun and stop it when sound heard, start stopwatch when gun heard / clap heard and stop when echo heard, measure time
taken between clap and hearing echo, timer starts when first microphone receives signal and stops when second receives
signal OR measurement of wavelength, e.g. move one microphone away until two waves on oscilloscope have moved
one wavelength apart
speed = measured distance / time for direct method
OR speed =2× distance from student clapping to wall / time for echo method
OR distance between microphones = wavelength AND v=f×λ