Date: ____________________________ Name: ____________________________

UNIT 3 – WAVES AND SOUND

SPEED OF SOUND %
10 INQ 5 COM 7 MC 22 TOTAL

Objective: To approximate the speed of sound using echolocation.

Materials: two steel rods, stop watch, tape measure, thermometer

Procedure:
1. Find a wall and stand at least 50 m away from it. Measure your distance from the wall. [1 INQ]
2. Bang the two steel rods together in periodic motion. Try to time the bangs so they are in rhythm with the
echoes, so it goes bang, echo, bang, echo, bang, echo, and so on. Half the period of your banging is the
time required for a sound wave to travel from you to the wall and back.
3. Measure the length of time required for 20 bangs and echoes. [1 INQ]
4. How much time is required for the sound wave to travel to the wall and back? [1 INQ]
5. Calculate the speed of sound using information gathered in steps 1 to 4. [2 INQ]
6. Measure the air temperature. [1 INQ]
7. Calculate the speed of sound using the speed of sound in air equation. [2 INQ]
8. What is the percent difference between your experimental value for the speed of sound and the value you
just calculated using the speed of sound in air equation? Explain any difference. [2 INQ]

Follow Up Questions:
1. A hunter wanted to know the air temperature. The echo from a nearby cliff returned 1.5 s after he fired his
rifle. If the cliff is 250 m away, calculate the air temperature. [3 INQ]
2. A rock is dropped from a sea cliff and the sound of it striking the ocean is heard 3.4 s later. If the air
temperature is 19°C, what is the height of the cliff? Hint: You will be solving a quadratic. [4 INQ]

NOTE: You will lose one COM mark for each error in scientific terminology/convention or omission.

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