Describe a simple experiment to determine the speed of sound in air.

One method to measure the speed of sound would require two people, a large open space, a starting pistol that produces smoke instantaneously when fired, a stopwatch and a tool to measure long distances (e.g. a trundle wheel).
The two students would stand a large distance away from each other (greater than 100m), that can be measured using the trundle wheel. One student would fire the gun. The other student would start the stopwatch when they initially saw the gun fire and the smoke appear. We are making the assumption that the speed of light is instantaneous in this example. The student would stop the stopwatch when they heard the gunshot, giving them a reading for time.
As speed= distance/time, the speed of sound could be calculated using the distance between the two students. The reading on the stopwatch would be the time. Dividing the distance between the students by the time we would get an accurate estimate of the speed of sound in air. To improve the accuracy, repeat the experiment or conduct the experiment over a greater distance.

AE
Answered by Alex E. Physics tutor

43757 Views

See similar Physics GCSE tutors

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

a car travels at a constant speed of 60 km/h. How far will it be after 3 h?


A 1000kg car accelerates from 0 to 20 m/s in 15 seconds. Calculate the acceleration of the car, the force required for this acceleration and the momentum of the car at 20 m/s.


What is the Doppler effect and how is it exploited in everyday life?


A mass of 2kg is dropped from rest at a height of 10m. i) What is the initial GPE of the mass? ii) What is the final velocity of the mass when it hits the ground?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning