EXPERIMENT NO .

5
SONAR

OBJECTIVES
 To demonstrate sound propagation with the use of sonar.
 To interpret data with the use of statistical methods on dealing with errors.

BACKGROUND
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation for
navigation, object detection and mapping. There are two types of sonar, passive sonar:
listening for incoming sound, and active sonar: transmitting sound pulses and receiving
echoes. Active sonar is what will be used in this activity with the use of your mobile phone
(speaker and microphone) as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Illustration of sound propagation (transmission and reflection).

To measure the distance of an object using sonar, the time from pulse transmission
to reception is measured and converted into a range using the known speed of sound
(343 m/s), and it is given in this relation:

. (1)

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Where as the speed of sound in air (343 m/s), t as the time of pulse transmission to
reception, and as distance of an object. The total distance traveled by the sound wave
is 2 , i.e., from transmission to reception.
More background information about this experiment can be found in your Phyphox App
in the “Experiment info” of the “Sonar” experiment under the “Acoustics” section. And you
may visit this wiki page: https://phyphox.org/wiki/index.php/Experiment:_Sonar to know
more on the possible problems that you will encounter and recommended resolutions.

MATERIALS / TOOLS
 Mobile phone with Phyphox mobile application
 PC / Laptop (control/monitor and plotting: https://phyphox.org/remote-control/)
 Box / echo shield for the mobile phone (e.g. foam, box container that can fit your
mobile phone, which shields all directions from phone except the speaker and
microphone location).
NOTE: Try different materials with different sizes, which will show minimal noise
(unwanted ripples or peaks) in your graph.
 Sound reflector material (i.e. hard and flat material; e.g. tray)
 Measuring tape
 Support for the reflector that will hold it in a vertical position (optional)

PROCEDURE

Preliminary:
• Watch the video on how to use your smartphone as a sonar for this experiment in this
link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0&feature=youtu.be.

• Since you are going to use your mobile phone as sensor in this experiment, you need
a second device (such as a laptop or tablet with internet browser) as control and
monitor screen. Instructions can be found in this link https://phyphox.org/remote-
control/ and connection instructions in this link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPUHCW ypn9M.

Do this experiment on a flat surface (e.g. floor).

1. Under the Phypox app, connect your mobile phone with your laptop or tablet
(instructions can be found on the second and third links under the Preliminary section).
This second device would serve as your monitor and control during the duration of this
experiment. If you do not have a second device, you would need a support stand for
the target so you can do this experiment.
2. Place your mobile phone inside the box. Making sure that the microphone (receiver)
is placed facing the box opening.

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 Fig. 2. Sample setup [3].

3. Spread the measuring tape in such a way that it will be convenient for you to manually
measure the distance from your mobile phone to the flat object (to echolocate). The
mobile phone microphone (receiver) is assumed to be the reference point. Take note
of the predefined distances in your data sheet. Sample setup configuration is shown
in Fig. 2.
4. Take a photo of your setup including the flat object as target. You may use some
marker in place of your mobile phone so you can use your mobile phone’s camera.
5. Under the “Echo Location” tab, make sure that the correct speed of sound (343 m/s in
air) is entered.
6. You will refer to the “Normalized to spherical surface” plot to check the distance of
your target. Once measuring, the highest peak on the graph should correspond
approximately to the actual distance of the target. Some small ripples (unwanted
peaks) may be present as noise depending on how good your setup is and on your
environment noise level.
TIPS:
• Check if your setup is good enough by pressing the “start” button to start acquiring
data and placing the target object near your phone. Gradually increase the
distance of your target object from your phone and check if you are getting the
correct distance peak with smaller noise (unwanted ripples).
• You may want to change your box or do the experiment with lesser environmental
noise if the data is still too noisy (meaning, many unwanted ripples or peaks are
still present that it makes it too hard to distinguish the main peak, i.e., the supposed
target’s location). Remember that the sound is moving in 360˚ direction, and the
type of material and size of the material used as barrier are important. Also, since

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 you are measuring reflected sound waves, noisy environment could affect your
measurement.
7. Once you have achieved a setup with minimal noise, press the “Timed Run” option to
set the desired “Start delay(s)” time and “Experiment duration(s)”.
TIP:
• The delay should be enough time before you expect the measurement to begin,
and the experiment duration should be enough time so you will get a good
approximate peak at the target’s location (reference: actual distance). Configure
several times to optimize your setup. As an example – delay: 3 s, experiment
duration: 10 s.
8. Place your object at the initial distance (50 cm) and start your data collection.
9. After your measurement, tap the “Normalized to spherical surface” plot. Select the
“Pick data” and pinpoint the main peak to know the measurement value of the object’s
distance.
10. Record your result and print-screen your plots from the Phyphox App both from “Echo
Location” and “Timing” tabs. Do this for every remaining distance mentioned: 100-250
cm at 50 cm interval.

REFERENCES
1. R.W.T.H.A. University. Phyphox [Online]. Available: https://phyphox.org/download/.
2. R.W.T.H.A. University. Phyphox [Online]. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebj3v701HE0&feature=youtu.be.
3. J. Lopez, Sonar experiment. DLSU, 2020.

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Names: OLVINA, Timothy Fenol
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Date Performed: October 31, 2021
__________________________________________________
General Physics Laboratory 2 T-STEM 12-G2
Course Code & Section: __________________________________________________

DATA SHEET

Distance (cm) 50 100 150 200 250

Distance* obtained
70.74 70.39 234.17 324.06 364.08
from Phyphox (cm)

% Error 41.48 29.61 56.11 62.03 45.63

*Distance of the target object, which is ideally the main peak or highest peak from the graph.

A. Insert the image of your setup. Materials

Experimental Set Up Experimental Set Up

[Procedure] [Contents of the Box]

B. Insert the print-screened plots of your result from Phyphox (echo location and Timing).
NOTE: For the complete set of screenshots, please open the files
uploaded in the GDrive for better quality. Thank you !
[Results] 100cm

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GDrive for Results: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DvBVNhElnH

C2PyS01bBjrgQQ8Rd9q8ZB?usp=sharing
 QUESTIONS
1. Is the measured distance (Phyphox) differs from the actual value? Elaborate your
answer and include the discussion of errors (if necessary).
In the researcher's rendition of the Physics experiment, the measured distance by Phyphox differs from the actual
value. The most probable cause would involve the environmental error. Though the researcher chose to conduct the
experiment in the night to prevent the occurence of noise from passing mechanisms, the researcher encountered
unprecedented hindrances during the 5 trials. Furthermore, instrumental error may have played a role of inaccurate
readings from the experiment. During the experimentation, there was no procedure dedicated to the calibration of the
phone to adapt to the researcher's environment. By "adapt," the device was not able to mute the background noise
and only trigger upon hearing the "chirp" noise. Lastly, though may not be as significant as the other two, human error
was part of the reason of accumulating high percentage errors for all trials. The measurement of the distance between
the reflector and the sound systemmay have been off slightly.

2. From the relationship between (sound) velocity ( ), distance ( ) and time ( ) in Eq. 1,
solve for the total time it takes for the sound waves (chirp) to travel from your phone
to your target at 100 cm and back to your phone. Use both your measured data and
actual data and get their % difference. Be mindful of the unit of measurement(s) used.
Provide your analysis by comparing this result with the “Timing” result of the 100 cm
data.
General Formula for Total Time:
Total Time = [ 2 * (d / 100) ] / v

(a) The laboratory teacher defined the speed of sound v to be 343m/s. Distance d has the value of 100cm or
1m; hence, the total distance is 2m. In essence, the total time for this situation would be 0.005831s
(b) On the other hand, the experimental value for total time for the researcher's attempt at the experiment with a
distance of 100cm is 0.004104s. Hence, the percentage error is 29.62%.
(c) From the screenshot provided, the total time that the experiment had occured was approximately 0.004s,
which is a close approximation from the value obtained from letter (b). The researcher deduced this since the
peak of the line graph entitled "Normalized to Spherical Surface" was located at, if not near, that point

3. An ocean vessel using sonar sends a sound wave to the bottom of the sea and
receives an echo after 0.3 sec. Assume a speed of sound in water to be 1480 m/s.
Calculate the depth of the sea.

The resulting solution would be " d = [(0.3 * 1480) * (100 / 2)], " and the aforementioned equation resulted with
22,200m. Hence, the depth of the sea is 22,200m after receiving an echo after 0.3s, assuming that the speed
of sound in water is 1480m/s.

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 4. A ship sends an ultrasound to the bottom of the ocean floor at 2,618 m from the
surface. The ultrasound speed in water is about 1531 m/s. Calculate the time taken
by the sound waves to get reflected to the surface.

Given the situation, the researcher evaluated the solution to be " t = [(2 * 2618) / 1531]." Consequently,
the research evaluated the equation and concluded that it would take 3.42s for the sound waves to get reflected
to the surface.

5. Whenever a wave is used as a probe (e.g. ultrasound), it is difficult to detect target

details that is smaller than the wave’s wavelength, . Higher frequency ultrasound
would allow greater detail, but it lessen the penetration depth compared to lower
frequencies. The acceptable effective scan depth is about 500 into a tissue.
(A) Calculate the minimum frequency of ultrasound that will allow you to see details
as small as 0.250 mm in human tissue given the speed of sound in tissue is about
1540 m/s.
(B) What is the effective depth to which this sound is effective as a diagnostic probe?
Review: where : speed of sound in a medium, f : frequency.

(a) Given the relationship triangle of speed, frequency and wavelength, the researcher came up with the
equation " f = (1540 / 0.250)." Hence, the researcher concluded that the minimum frequency of
ultrasound to see details as small as 0.250m is 6,160,000 Hz.

(b) There is a rule stating that one can effectively scan into a tissue at depth of "500 times the wavelength"
(LumenLearning, n.d.). Therefore, the researcher deduced that for this scenario, the effective depth would
be 12.5cm.

Reference: LumenLearning (n.d.). Ultrasound.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/17-7-ultrasound/

FEEDBACK (nongraded):
If you observe high level of unwanted ripples (noise) in your measurement, what do you
think is/are causing them? Do the barrier’s properties (i.e. type and size) affect your data?
Or is it more of the background noise level? Elaborate your analysis.
The main contributor to high level of unwanted noise is the experimental site and set-up. While doing his
rendition of the experiment, the researcher noticed that at an elevated platform, the Phyphox software
rendered a closer experimental value when compared to when the device was flat on the floor. Furthermore,
under the advice of the researcher's instructor, the researcher noticed fairly better results when the reflector was
repaced from a carton box into a sturdy picture frame. However, despite the researcher's efforts to improve
the results, it proved to be futile as the percentage error throughtout the 5 distances were significantly high...

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