Science of Sound and Music. How can we measure the speed of something?
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Transcript of Science of Sound and Music. How can we measure the speed of something?
Science of Sound and Music
How can we measure the speed of something?
How can we measure the speed of something?
Distance ÷ Time = Speed
How can we measure the speed of something?
Distance ÷ Time = Speed
Some examples of “speed”…
Snail: 2 inches per hourCar: 55 miles per hourLight: 300,000,000 meters per second
How can we measure the speed of something?
Distance ÷ Time = SpeedIn 1998 Florence Griffith-Joyner set the World Record in the women’s 100 meters by running it in 10.49 seconds.
What was her speed?
How can we measure the speed of something?
Distance ÷ Time = SpeedIn 1998 Florence Griffith-Joyner set the World Record in the women’s 100 meters by running it in 10.49 seconds.
What was her speed?
100 meters ÷ 10.49 seconds = 9.53 meters per second
Temp (deg C) Speed (m/s)
20 343.2
21 343.78
22 344.36
23 344.94
24 345.52
25 346.1
The speed of sound varies slightly with temperature…..
Temp (deg C) Speed (m/s)
20 343.2
21 343.78
22 344.36
23 344.94
24 345.52
25 346.1
Distance ÷ Time = Speed
The speed of sound varies slightly with temperature…..
Setup and procedure
• Connect microphone preamps to “Line In” jack on PC via RCA to 1/8” stereo cable
• Open Audacity– Under the “Edit > Preferences” menu, set Channels to
2 (Stereo)
• Set PC to record from “Line In”– Open “Volume Control”
• Press record on Audacity• Make a loud sharp noise (eg. snap fingers)• Press stop on Audacity
General notes on the experiment
• The microphone converts sound to electricity.• The amplifier is used to increase the
microphone's low output voltage to a stronger level that can be recorded by the PC.
• The PC is capable of recording in stereo, which means it can simultaneously record the signals from two different microphones.
General notes on the experiment
• Sound from a source will travel across the room and reach the microphones at different times.
• The recorded audio can be analyzed on the PC to determine the amount of time it took for sound to pass from the location of mic 1 to mic 2.
• The distance between the microphones can be measured with a ruler, tape measure, etc.
• The speed of sound can be calculated by dividing the distance by the time.
Microphones placed 143 ½ inches apart 345.3 m/s
Example screen shot
