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A student measures the speed of sound - OCR Gateway - GCSE Physics - Question 21 - 2021 - Paper 1
Question 21
A student measures the speed of sound. They use this equipment:  Distance Microphone 1 Microphone 2 0.0 ms Elect... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A student measures the speed of sound - OCR Gateway - GCSE Physics - Question 21 - 2021 - Paper 1
Step 1
Calculate the mean time.
Answer
To calculate the mean time, we will sum the recorded times and divide by the number of measurements. The calculations are as follows:
Mean time = ( rac{6.7 + 6.3 + 6.7 + 6.6}{4}) = ( rac{26.3}{4}) = 6.575 ms.
Rounding this to 2 significant figures gives us a mean time of 6.6 ms.
Step 2
Step 3
Calculate the speed of sound.
Answer
To calculate the speed of sound, we will use the formula:
[ \text{Speed} = \frac{\text{Distance}}{\text{Time}} ]
Substituting the known values, we have:
[ \text{Distance} = 2.4 \text{ m} ] [ \text{Time} = 7.5 \text{ ms} = 7.5 \times 10^{-3} \text{ s} ]
Thus, the speed of sound is:
[ \text{Speed} = \frac{2.4}{7.5 \times 10^{-3}} = 320 , \text{m/s} ]
Step 4
Describe how the student can measure the distance between the microphones.
Answer
The student can measure the distance between the microphones using a measuring tape or ruler. They should ensure that the measuring device is straight and check for any obstacles that might affect the measurement.
Step 5
Suggest why this is different from your value calculated in 21(c)(i).
Answer
The discrepancy between the calculated speed and the website's value of 330 m/s may be due to variations in environmental conditions such as temperature or humidity, which can affect the speed of sound in air. Additionally, the value from the website may be a standard at specific conditions, rather than the immediate experimental setup.