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An experimental evaluation of standing sound waves in pipes

Typical experimental settings for the study of standing sound waves include a pipe, a microphone attached to a piston for signal acquisition and a speaker connected to a generator for the production of waves. The piston can be used for manual adjustments in the effective size of the tube. The correct interpretation of physical phenomena related to such an experiment is closely connected to the experimental setup, as the speaker position relative to the pipe and the microphone movement relative to the piston. The usual system was automated and adapted for enabling the independent movement of both piston and microphone and sound waves were studied in semi-open and closed pipe configurations. The results are in agreement with the theory and showed the parameters that mostly affected the experiments in comparison to the traditional setup. Two of such parameters are lack of sealing between the speaker and the pipe, and signal profile, which does not correspond to a standing wave when the microphone and the piston are attached to each other. The use of an automated system for signal acquisition enables the observation of experimental results that are not usually discussed and the correct interpretation of the standing wave phenomenon.

Keywords:
standing sound wave pipe; longitudinal waves; normal modes; physics laboratory; experimental problems


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