Student Exploration: Longitudinal Waves
Page 1 of 8Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
In many science fiction movies, an evil
alien spaceship explodes with an enormous KABOOM!!
Suppose you were floating in space at a
safe distance from a large explosion such as the supernova at left. Do you think you would you hear anything? Explain.
I don’t think so, I think the sound doesn’t
have anything to vibrate to make the noise in space.
Gizmo Warm-up
No sounds can be heard in outer space because sound waves require a medium, such as air, to travel through. Sound waves are examples of longitudinal waves, or waves in which particles move back and forth in the same direction as the wave.
You can use the Longitudinal Waves GizmoTM
to explore the behavior of sound waves. In the Gizmo, an air-filled tube contains 24
evenly-spaced, airtight dividers. To begin, select the Pulsed waves setting and the Open tube. Set the Strength to 1.00. Deselect the graph options at lower right.
1.Click Play ( ) to set off the firecracker by the left end of the tube. What do you see? Student Exploration: Longitudinal Waves
Page 2 of 8I think they do, the airtight dividers don’t block the air molecules from travelling through.The wave oscillates left to right and then back, and then dips below 0 on the second round and every other one after.
2.Do any individual air molecules travel the length of the tube? How do you know?
Page 1 of 8Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
In many science fiction movies, an evil
alien spaceship explodes with an enormous KABOOM!!
Suppose you were floating in space at a
safe distance from a large explosion such as the supernova at left. Do you think you would you hear anything? Explain.
I don’t think so, I think the sound doesn’t
have anything to vibrate to make the noise in space.
Gizmo Warm-up
No sounds can be heard in outer space because sound waves require a medium, such as air, to travel through. Sound waves are examples of longitudinal waves, or waves in which particles move back and forth in the same direction as the wave.
You can use the Longitudinal Waves GizmoTM
to explore the behavior of sound waves. In the Gizmo, an air-filled tube contains 24
evenly-spaced, airtight dividers. To begin, select the Pulsed waves setting and the Open tube. Set the Strength to 1.00. Deselect the graph options at lower right.
1.Click Play ( ) to set off the firecracker by the left end of the tube. What do you see? Student Exploration: Longitudinal Waves
Page 2 of 8I think they do, the airtight dividers don’t block the air molecules from travelling through.The wave oscillates left to right and then back, and then dips below 0 on the second round and every other one after.
2.Do any individual air molecules travel the length of the tube? How do you know?
