INTRODUCTION

Theory
Particles of a medium are oscillating in the direction of propagation of the wave, then such
a wave is called a longitudinal wave. Sound propagation in the air medium is in the form of
longitudinal waves. Sound can travel through any material medium with a speed that depends
on the properties of the medium. As the wave travels, the particles in the medium vibrate to
produce changes in density and pressure along the direction of motion of the wave. These
changes result in a series of high-pressure and low-pressure regions. If the source of the
sound waves vibrates sinusoidally, the pressure variations are also sinusoidal. When two
waves of equal wavelength and amplitude propagating in opposite directions superimpose on
each other, then interference occurs and the resultant wave is called a standing wave. In a
standing wave the particles of the medium at certain points do not oscillate which are known
as nodes. At certain points the particles of the medium have maximum amplitude of
oscillation, called antinodes. The speed of sound in air depends on the surrounding air
temperature according to:

V=331 m/s +(0.6 m/s) T

where the T is the temperature of surrounding in degrees Celsius.
The length of the column is varied until the shortest length possible to achieve resonance. In a
closed tube, when fundamental mode or the lowest resonating frequency is achieved the
length of the shortest air column is equal to a quarter of wavelength.

L=/4
Since the frequency of sound is fixed and the wavelength is determined, the speed of the
sound can be determined by the formula:

V=f
where V is the speed of sound
f is the frequency of sound
is the wavelength of sound.

Literature Review
Sound is transmitted through any medium as longitudinal waves. It must have a medium
for it propagate. Through solids, it can be transmitted as both longitudinal waves and
transverse waves. Longitudinal sound waves are waves of alternating pressure differences
causing local regions of compression and rarefaction. The earliest method of calculating the
speed of sound is by measuring the time taken by echo to travel. Sir Isaac Newton computed
the speed of sound in air as 979 feet per second (298 m/s), which is too low by about 15%.
This is done without taking in to consideration of the effect of fluctuating temperature. This
was later rectified by Pierre-Simon Laplace.
Speed of sound in various mediums:
Medium
Air at 15 degrees Celsius
Aluminium
Brick
Distilled Water at 35 degrees Celsius
Glass
Steel
Wood

Speed of sound (m/s)

340
5000
3650
1496
4540
5200
4110

A sound wave can be created when a tuning fork is held over an open portion of a tube
similar in respect to how sound is created when a person blows air into a bottle. In a closed
air column, the open end is termed the antinode, while the closed end is termed the node.
When a tuning fork is placed over the open region of the tube, a disturbance is created by the
alternative compressions produced by the sound wave. A standing wave is produced when the
alternate compressions and rarefactions of the sound wave down the tubing are reflected at
the tubings closed end into the opposite direction therefore creating the propagation of waves
in the same region although in opposing directions. The nature by which a standing wave is
produced creates a condition where the wave has fixed maximum and minimum points. The
shortest length of a tube to resonate at a given frequency is satisfied by a tube that is a quarter
of the
wavelength or L=1/4. This is because half of the wavelength is represented by the distance
from one node to another node, and the tube will resonate at the tuning forks frequency.
resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when a given system is driven by another vibrating
system or external force to oscillate with greater amplitude at a specific preferential

frequency. Successive resonant lengths can be noted when the tube length represents an odd
number of quarter wavelengths including L=1/4, 3/4, 5/4, and so on. s the frequency or
number of vibrations per minute, v is the velocity of sound in air in meters/second, and L is
the length of the column of air in meters. More wavelength segments fit into the resonance
tube when the length of an air column increases when the node-antinode requirements are
met. An observer will experience resonance by noting an increase in the amplitude of sound
heard when the air column reaches certain lengths that meet the conditions earlier. The length
of the air column can be manipulated by either adding or draining water from the air column.

Problem Statement
The speed of sound is estimated to be 340.21 m/s at sea level. This value is nearly accurate if
the experiment is carried out in Standard Temperature and Pressure ( STP). The surrounding
temperature has to be taken into consideration when estimating the speed of sound. Knowing
that the surrounding temperature is definitely higher to adhere to the STP conditions, then
what is the speed of sound when the experiment of determining the speed of sound is carried
out at Room Temperature and Pressure (RTP).

Objective:
The main objective is to study what is the speed of sound in air and how the sound intensity
can be determined by using a resonance tube.