Measuring the speed of sound

RE: Measuring the speed of sound

dougw — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 16:13:22 GMT

Interesting experiment. If the tube is open ended, do you still get a good reflection?

RE: Measuring the speed of sound

dubbie — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 13:05:42 GMT

Looks to be a simple method for measuring the speed of sound with a simple and small setup. I was sitting outside in the sun yesterday in a relatively small valley listening to the conversations on the other side of the valley, contemplating an experiment to measure the speed of sound across the valley. using the original method of using a light flash made at the same time as the sound and then measuring the time it takes for the sound to reach you. But then I had difficulty with the idea of measuring the actual distance across the valley (it was a long way and the ground was curved) plus the other problem of temperature (probably widely variable across the valley) and windspeed (who knows what that was). So I just ate my sandwiches and listened to the birds.

Dubbie

RE: Measuring the speed of sound

colporteur — Sun, 02 Aug 2020 20:48:12 GMT

Friggin (can you say that) awesome! Simple experiment that has real practical value for the visual learner. Nice job [mention:bec6bbe979184864a8bf20f127079791:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] .

RE: Measuring the speed of sound

balearicdynamics — Sun, 02 Aug 2020 20:03:20 GMT

Nice experiment, very appreciated the simple setup and the results

RE: Measuring the speed of sound

jw0752 — Sun, 02 Aug 2020 14:28:29 GMT

Very nice experiment. I bet one could do something similar using a simultaneous light and sound emission with an audio and light pick up a known distance away and monitored by the oscilloscope. The idea of using an echo is ingenious.

John