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Experiment 2 Standing Waves in a Tube

The lab report details an experiment conducted to study standing waves in a resonance tube using sound waves. The expected speed of sound was calculated to be 344 m/s, while the experimental value was 312 m/s, showing a successful verification of theoretical equations within a 10% error margin. The report also discusses potential sources of error that could be addressed in future experiments to improve accuracy.

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9 views5 pages

Experiment 2 Standing Waves in a Tube

The lab report details an experiment conducted to study standing waves in a resonance tube using sound waves. The expected speed of sound was calculated to be 344 m/s, while the experimental value was 312 m/s, showing a successful verification of theoretical equations within a 10% error margin. The report also discusses potential sources of error that could be addressed in future experiments to improve accuracy.

Uploaded by

godsongeorge8
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Physics Lab Report

Physic 111 Lab Name: Kannadan Godson George


Section: 111- L2 Student # 230152522
Date: 2025-02-03
Partner: Damanpreet Singh, Brandon (Ishesheansu)

Experiment 2: Standing Waves in a Tube

Objective: To study the characteristics of standing wave by setting up the standing sound
waves inside a resonance tube by using a speaker and function generator.

Theory: In this experiment we study the formation of standing waves, by the interference of a
sound wave reflected by its ends. When the length of tube and sound wavelength meet certain
conditions and parameters resonance occur, producing standing wave patterns. We hence can
calculate the speed of sound from the experimental frequencies and wavelengths

Using the wave equation:

𝑣 = 𝑓𝜆

Were,

v= speed of sound
f= frequency
𝜆= Wavelength

Expected speed of sound is given by the temperature dependent equation:

𝒗𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 = 𝟑𝟑𝟏. 𝟓𝐦 𝐬 + ( 𝟎. 𝟔𝟎𝟕𝐦/( 𝐬. °𝐂)) T

Were,

T is the room air temperature in Celsius.

By comparing the experimental and theoretical values, we analyze the accuracy of our results
and potential sources of error.
Figure 1 Diagram of a standing wave. Minimas shown in black dots

Apparatus:
• Computer Running PASCO Capstone
• PASCO 850 Universal Interface
• PASCO Resonance Tube
• PASCO Voltage Sensor
• Miniature Microphone

Figure 2 Experiment Resonance Tube


Procedure:
Please Refer to Lab notes for the experimental procedural steps.

Data from the experiment

Table 1 Experimental Values

Table 2 Wavelength and speed


Sample Calculation
Discussions
This experiment was to study the characteristics of standing waves by setting up the standing
sound waves inside a resonance tube by using a speaker and function generator. This experiment
also helped us to find the wavelength and its frequence. The theoretical expected value for the
speed of sound as one of the characteristics was 344m/s and the theoretical value resulted out to
be at 312m/s. The end calculated result was within 10% of its bounds, which shows the success
and the relationship between the values. Hence, by this experiment we were able to successfully
verify the theoretical equation and study the characteristics of the standing wave. This error %
was due to the errors that were part of the experiment, this could also be seen in the difference in
the standard deviation of the test results. Some of the notable errors that we could see from the
experiment were,

1. Static and external frequency: As the experiment was not conducted in a complete
external vacuum or sealed area, the results tend to record reading and would need to be
regarded as noise. This could have been in the next experiment by adding parameters to
the capstone to filter out the gray noises or conduct the experiment in a vacuum chamber.

2. Measurement: As the measurements were conducted in a tube the accuracy of the piston
position was not recorded to the highest significant figures. There might also be external
vibrations or distractions that could have affected the measurement. This could have been
improved by making the reading digital and having an inbuilt protector for the digital
reading to set calibration at the beginning of every reading.

Conclusion
In a nutshell, the overall objective of the experiment was to understand the characteristics of the
standing sound wave, and successfully measuring the wavelength and minima’s. The theoretical
and experimental values were within the 10% bounds and thus verifying the theoretical equations
used in the experiment. This also raises the need to address the sources of errors in the
experiment, to have the result accurate in the next series of experiments.

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