Sound Waves in an Organ Pipe
In class we found that standing waves are produced in an organ pipe with one closed
end when the air inside is excited with a tuning fork. The simulation below illustrates
the longitudinal nature of such waves; the air molecules are displaced parallel to the
direction in which the wave carries energy.
The wave within the tube is a standing wave
|
y(x,t) = 2Asin( |
2p
l
|
x) cos( |
2pv
l
|
t) |
|
with velocity determined by the physical characteristics of the medium (air)
and fitting an odd number of quarter-wavelengths within the tube. In this applet the length of the tube is 2 m.