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View Full Version : Measuring the speed of sound in air


hogarth
Feb19-09, 08:44 AM
1. The problem statement

Hi all,
My AS physics coursework is comming up and i'm starting to plan. I will be measurng the speed of sound in air........lots and lots of times as I will then have to speculate as to how accurate my readings are.


How would you do it if it was you?


3. The attempt at a solution

My idea so far will be to place 2 microphones 3.33 meters apart(I wonder why...!), one behind the other but not obscured by it, then connect them to a computer. I will then have a sound source that is a set distance away ( sound source will probably be balloons to burst or banging two pieces of wood together!), The microphones will start recording on a sound trigger basis and so the source should be loud enough to activate this. Hopefully the time between when the two microphones start recording will give me t and d will be 3.33 m, so I should then be able to use speed = (d/t)[/I] any thoughts and comments will be most welcome!!

Note: I don't want anything to be too accurate (which I doubt anyway :D) as then I wont have anything to talk about in my write-up!
1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data



2. Relevant equations



3. The attempt at a solution