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Mon 19 Jan, 2015 06:45 pm
My son is working on a science project on how decreasing and increasing the amount of air affects sound. He is in the 3rd grade. He knows that decreasing the amount of air in a container should decrease the volume of the sound. However after completing the science project several times, he is having a hard time deciding at which point there is more air. He was instructed to bring water to a boil in a flask. Then cap with a stopper that has a wire connected to a bell attached to it. The sound changes were so subtle we couldn't measure them. Is there more air in the container right after the stopper is placed or is there more as the flask and water cools. He was able to talk about air pressure but doesn't know how it affects the amount of air. Thanks for your help
@Butrflynet,
Thanks for the website. He understands that as air decreases the loudness of the sound decreases. I'm thinking the changes were to subtle to notice by the human ear. I guess our main question is, is there less air right after placing the stopper in the flask or after it sits and cools off.
@galgel1,
I would think the
amount of air would remain constant. Water vapor will decrease with the lower temperature.
@roger,
I guess I was just assuming the amount of air would have been affected because the name of the project is "Outer Space, The Silent Frontier: An Experiment on Sound Waves." The objective was to investigate how decreasing the amount of air in a container affects the container's ability to transmit sound. I appreciate your input!
@galgel1,
Same amount of air, but at a lower pressure? Then I also expect transmission to be slower. The problem is how to demonstrate that fact.
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