A Variation of the Speed of Sound Experiment

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 3 Issue 4 (1998), S1430-4171(98)04235-2

A Variation of the Speed of Sound Experiment

Scott A. Riley,^¹ Allison Noble,^² Jonathan Crabb,³ Travis Walkup,³ Douglas Jones,³ and A. M. Nishimura^*3

^¹Department of Chemistry, University of Califomia Davis, CA 95616
^²Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801
³Department of Chemistry, Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA 93108

Published online: 3 August 1998

Abstract. An experiment which is familiar to most physical chemistry students is the speed of sound based on the Kundt’s tube. The experiment also allows the student to determine the heat-capacity ratio for various gases. The process of changing gases may be more easily accomplished if the microphone in the tube can be fixed in its position relative to the speaker. In this article, this modification to the experiment is discussed in terms of resonance generated in closed pipes.

Key Words: Laboratories and Demonstrations; Kundt’s tube; heat capacity ratio of gases; speed of sound; physical chemistry laboratory experiment

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: nishimu@westmont.edu )

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