HOW FAST SOUND TRAVEL IN

WATER?
MEMBER:
TERRENCE ONG JUN HAN
TAY WEI KIAN
CHAI MINNG HAO
TEACHER:
PN. NORATIQAH BINTI MOHD AMIN

ABSTRACT
SOUND PRESSURE IS A VIBRATION THAT PROPAGATES AS A TYPICALLY AUDIBLE
MECHANICAL WAVE OF PRESSURE THROUGH MEDIUM SUCH AS WATER AND AIR.
SOUND CAN BE PROPAGATE THROUGH SEVERAL MEDIUM AND PRODUCES
A) LONGITUDINAL WAVE
B) TRANSVERSE WAVE

AS THE SOUND WAVE IS CONTINUOUSLY PRODUCED BY THE SOURCE, AT ANY

FIXED DISTANCES, THE PRESSURE, VELOCITY, AND DISPLACEMENT OF THE
MEDIUM VARY IN TIME
THEREFORE, DURING ANY PROPAGATION, WAVES CAN BEREFLECTED,
REFRACTED OR ATTENUATED BY THE MEDIUM.

INTRODUCTION

ECHO SOUNDING IS A TYPE OF SONAR USED TO DETERMINE THE DEPTH OF WATER

BY TRANSMITTING SOUND PULSES INTO WATER. THE TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN
EMISSION AND RETURN OF A PULSE IS RECORDED, WHICH IS USED TO DETERMINE
THE DEPTH OF WATER ALONG WITH THE SPEED OF SOUND IN WATER AT THE TIME.
THE WORD SOUNDING IS USED FOR ALL TYPES OF DEPTH MEASUREMENTS. ECHO
SOUNDING IS A MORE RAPID METHOD OF MEASURING DEPTH THAN THE PREVIOUS
TECHNIQUE OF LOWERING A SOUNDING LINE UNTIL IT TOUCHED BOTTOM.
DISTANCE CAN BE MEASURED BY MULTIPLYING HALF THE TIME FROM THE SIGNAL'S
OUTGOING PULSE TO ITS RETURN BY THE SPEED OF SOUND IN THE WATER, WHICH IS
APPROXIMATELY 1.5 KILOMETRES PER SECOND [T2(4700 FEET PER SECOND
OR 1.5 KIL PER SECOND )]
FOR HIGH ACCURACY DEPTHS, USUALLY RESTRICTED TO SPECIAL PURPOSE OR
SCIENTIFIC SURVEYS, A SENSOR MAY BE LOWERED TO MEASURE THE TEMPERATURE,
PRESSURE AND SALINITY. THESE FACTORS ARE USED TO CALCULATE THE ACTUAL
SOUND SPEED IN THE LOCAL WATER COLUMN. THIS LATTER TECHNIQUE IS
REGULARLY USED BY US OFFICE OF COAST SURVEY FOR NAVIGATIONAL SURVEYS OF
US COASTAL WATERS.

LITERATURE REVIEW
THROUGH THE USAGE OF WAVE, ECHO LOCATE IS USED TO LOCATE ANY
OBSTRUCTION WHICH IS USUALLY USED IN SUBMARINE FOR UNDERWATER
NAVIGATION OR BAT DURING AERIAL NAVIGATION.
ECHO SOUNDER IS ALSO DISCOVERED THROUGH THE USAGE OF WAVE TO
MEASURE THE DEPTH OF WATER. ,MODERN DEVICES IS ABLE TO USE THIS
PROCESS BY SENDING PULSE AND CALCULATE THE TIME TAKEN TO RECEIVE
BACK THE ECHO. BY THIS, THEY ARE ABLE TO MEASURE THE MOST
PROBABLE DEPTH IN THE OCEAN.

 OBJECTIVE

TO DETERMINE DOES SOUND WAVE CAN TRAVEL IN WATER.

TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VOLUME OF WATER IN CONTAINER AND THE

TIME TAKEN FOR SOUND WAVE TRAVEL TO SURFACE OF THE WATER.
TO DETERMINE HOW DOES THE WATER VOLUME AFFECT THE TIME TAKEN OF SOUND WAVE
TRAVEL TO SURFACE OF THE WATER.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
SOUND IS A TYPE OF WAVE THAT TRAVEL IN A MEDIUM. FOR THIS EXPERIMENT, WE HAVE TO
DETERMINE DOES THE WATER TRAVEL IN A WATER MEDIUM AFFACT THE SPEED OF THE SOUND
WAVE TRAVEL AND AFFACT THE TIME TAKEN TO APPROACHING THE SURFACE OF THE WATER?

HYPOTHESIS
SOUND TRAVEL DIFFERENT SPEED IN DIFFERENT MEDIUM. WHEN THE WATER PRESSURE
INCREASE, THE SPEED OF SOUND TRAVEL DECREASE.

 METHODOLOGY

MATERIALS AND APPARATUS:

1. 1MHZ AUDIO GENERATOR
2. TWO CROCODILE CLIP WIRES
3. SPEAKER
4. BEAKER
5. MEASURING CYLINDER
6. IRON CONTAINER
7. STOPWATCH
8. WATER

PROCEDURE:
1. SETUP THE APPARATUS AS THE PHOTO SHOWN.
2. PLACE THE IRON CONTAINER ON THE SPEAKER.
3. SET THE 1MHZ AUDIO GENERATOR TO 250HZ TOGETHER WITH HIGHEST AMPLITUDE.
4. FILL 50ML OF WATER INTO A IRON CONTAINER BY USING MEASURING CYLINDER.
5. START THE STOPWATCH WHEN THE AUDIO GENERATOR IS SWITCHED ON.
6. TIME TAKEN IS RECORDED WHEN A PATTERN OF WAVE IS APPEARED ON WATER SURFACE.
7. REPEAT STEP 2 TO 6 UNTIL TOTAL VOLUME OF WATER IS 250ML, RECORD ALL THE READINGS
AND TABULATE VOLUME OF WATER (V/ML) AND TIME TAKEN WAVE PATTERN TO FORM (T/S)
8. PLOT A GRAPH OF T AGAINST V.

RESULT
Volume
of
water,
(ml)
(+0.1ml)

50
100
150
200
250

Time taken for wave to form on the

surface of water (s) (0.1)
(+- 0.01s)

0.75
1.47
1.50
2.69
5.28

0.94
0.81
1.78
2.78
5.75

0.84
1.03
1.81
3.16
3.19

0.78
1.22
1.94
2.66
3.75

1.10
1.00
2.19
2.47
4.22

Averag
e
0.882
1.106
1.844
2.752
4.582

 DISCUSSION:
1. THE FREQUENCY OF THE SPEAKER IS MAINTAINED AT AROUND 250 HZ TO MAINTAIN
CONSISTENCY OF THE READING.
2. THE EYE IS PLACED AT MENISCUS LEVEL SO THAT ANY WAVE FORMED CAN BE EASILY
OBSERVED.
3. THE EXPERIMENT IS REPEATED FOR FIVE TIMES TO GET THE ACCURATE READING.
4. FAN OF THE LAB IS SWITCHED OFF TO ENSURE NO EXTERNAL FORCE APPLIED ON
WATER SURFACE.
5. ON THE GRAPH, WHEN THE VOLUME IS 0ML, THERE IS STILL A TIME TAKEN FOR SOUND
TRAVEL
TO THE SURFACE DUE TO THE IRON CONTAINER IS ALSO A MEDIUM.

 CONCLUSION:
THE HIGHER THE VOLUME OF WATER IN THE METAL PLATE, THE LONGER THE
TIME FOR THE WAVE TO FORM ON THE SURFACE OF WATER.

APPENDIX

REFERENCES
HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/SONAR
HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/ECHO_SOUNDING
HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/SOUND
OXFORD FAJAR ACE AHEAD STPM TEXT PHYSICS THIRD TERM
PRE-U TEXT STPM PHYSICS
PHYSICS FOR SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS DOUGLAS C.GIANCOLI