Speed of Sound

Question:  How can you slow down the speed of sound?


Hypothesis: We think colder temperatures will slow down the speed of sound because colder temperatures make air molecules vibrate slower, and air delivers sound. 


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Our Experiment

Materials: 

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  • Dry Ice: very cold
  • Long Tube
  • Temperature Probe
  • Microphone

Safety Procedures



Dry Ice- avoid touching dry ice with bare hands or else you will burn yourself- always wear heavy gloves and goggles when handling dry ice 

Procedure:


1. Build a 10 foot long tube that is sealed on one end
2. Build a tube holder so you can control the temperature of the tube
3. Put dry ice around the outside of the tube
4. Wait until the inside of the tube is desired temperature
5. Measure temperature
6. Make a short noise into the tube once (ex. clapping, snapping, clicking)
7. Record noise and echo on microphone
8. Calculate the time between the sound and the echo
9. Repeat at different temperatures


Special Needs:
A quiet room

Watch us in action:
<feel free to add pictures, videos, etc>

The Science behind it

The sound travels with a wave (a.k.a sound wave) through the length of the tube, and hits the covered side of the tube, then bounces off the covered side and is recorded by the microphone. 

Later on you can Add Graphs with results


Conclusions
We accept our hypothesis because colder temperatures make the speed of sound slower, and hotter temperatures make the speed of sound quicker. We learned a lot about the speed of sound, for instance the speed of sounds travels at 1,125 feet per second in room temperature.


About Alicia

Alicia is 11 years old, she plays soccer and basketball. She lives in Somers with her sister, mom, dad and dog! Her favorite color is blue and green.

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About Elizabeth

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