Name: Factors Affecting the Speed of Sound in Air
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 3 min
Description: The most common medium that allows us to hear sounds around us is air. But did you know that temperature, humidity and wind can also affect the speed of sound waves?

Question

Describe an experiment to prove that material medium is required for the propagation of sound waves.

Accepted Answer

The sound wave is a longitudinal wave, i.e., the particles of the medium vibrate in a direction parallel to the direction of the propagation of the wave. It requires a material medium for its propagation. Following experiment clearly demonstrate that without material sound wave can not travel.

Experiment:

The experiment is done by placing an electrical bell in the bell jar. A bell jar is a laboratory equipment used for creating a vacuum. It is so named as its shape is similar to that of a bell. By pumping the air out of the bell jar, the air pressure inside the jar can be varied. As the air is pumped out of the sealed bell jar, the sound from the bell jar fades. At a particular vacuum, no more sound is heard from the bell, but we can see that the hammer continues hitting the gong and sound is produced. However, the sound is not audible to our ears because of the vacuum inside the jar.

This demonstrates that the sound wave cannot travel through a vacuum. That is, a sound wave needs a material medium for its propagation.

Describe an experiment to prove that material medium is required for the propagation of sound waves.

Important Questions on Sound

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