Experiments in Acoustics for the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory

Farhat Surve

Abstract: Although a variety of experiments in mechanics, optics, heat and electricity form a part of the undergraduate physics curriculum, the number of experiments in sound, in most undergraduate physics and engineering laboratories, is very limited. A dearth of experiments in sound leads to an incomplete understanding of concepts in acoustics that is revealed as the student advances through a university degree or diploma program. A set of four new experiments in sound for the undergraduate laboratory that should assist understanding of concepts central to a typical acoustics theory course, is offered. These experiments are appropriate for a course in acoustics that is offered as a part of applied physics or engineering.

Keywords: physics curriculum, undergraduate physics laboratory, experiments in sound, course in acoustics