Prove that sound travels through water
Prove that sound travels through water
Author
Discussion

Minnsy

Original Poster:

415 posts

285 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
How would you prove that sound travels through water, by means of a simple (home based) experiment.. (farting in the bath not really what I am looking for here... )

Looking forward to a range of replies... (and no conveyor belts)

Thanks

Dave

andy400

11,061 posts

249 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Waterproof speaker, waterproof microphone, tank of water.

DrTre

12,957 posts

250 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Stick a mains radio in a bathtub of water, then stick your head in.
Youll hear the music.
Briefly.

stifler

37,069 posts

206 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Go to your local swimming pool. Go under water. Clap your hands or hit your fist into your other hand. It comes out surprisingly loud. This is because water is denser and therefore more efficient at transmitting waves than air.

stifler

37,069 posts

206 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Oh, and don't forget to hold your breath.

aclivity

4,072 posts

206 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Borrow:
A piece of scaffolding pole
A hammer
A boat full of divers

Drive the boat out into the sea. Throw divers off boat, tell them to come back when they hear a clanging sound.

Wait, I'll say that again ...

Tell divers to come back to the boat when they hear a clanging sound, THEN throw divers off the boat.

Wait around for a bit, unspecified length of time. Don't leave it too long, as the divers tend to come back when they run out of air without being asked to.

Put one end of the scaffolding pole in the water.

Bang the other end of the pole with the hammer.

Wait for divers to return.

QED.

prand

6,218 posts

214 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
We used to do this at school. One guy would go up to the end of the 50m pool and go under water and set his watch alarm off. Under water at the opposite end you could hear it as clear liek it was next to you.




Hammerwerfer

3,234 posts

258 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
As a kid we used to talk to each other underwater. Bit garbled by the bubbles but understandable.

And you could hear the propellers of the motorboats from an amazing distance.

Murray993

1,515 posts

251 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
I did thsi with my boys last week. Go underwater and say a word and the others have to guess what that word is. You can hear certain sounds quite well.

elster

17,517 posts

228 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
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For this experiment you will need 2 submarines.

sadako

7,080 posts

256 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Stick your head in the bath and tap on the side of the bath.

Sound travels faster and more efficiently in water than in air. The only thing sound cannot travel through is perfect vaccuum (why oh why has there only ever been one scifi film to do this well...)

Shaw Tarse

31,817 posts

221 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Swimming pool.
Watreproof watch with an alarm.
Mate the other end of the pool.
It's what we did when I was young.

Minnsy

Original Poster:

415 posts

285 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Thanks for the wonderful selection of replies to date. Keep 'em coming as I don't believe I have found the 'killer' proof (apart from the electricity and water example) that can be demonstrated easily in the home....

Ta..

HiRich

3,337 posts

280 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
stifler said:
Go to your local swimming pool. Go under water. Clap your hands or hit your fist into your other hand. It comes out surprisingly loud. This is because water is denser and therefore more efficient at transmitting waves than air.
Pedantically, get someone else to clap their hands, and don't stand on the bottom. As there is no other route or medium for the sound to reach your ears (such as through your own arms or the floor), sound must be transmitted through the water. Or not. If you don't hear anything.

Justayellowbadge

37,057 posts

260 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
prand said:
We used to do this at school. One guy would go up to the end of the 50m pool and go under water and set his watch alarm off. Under water at the opposite end you could hear it as clear liek it was next to you.
Shaw Tarse said:
Swimming pool.
Watreproof watch with an alarm.
Mate the other end of the pool.
It's what we did when I was young.
I think it's quite touching you've found each other after all these years. Do you still have the watch?

moosepig

1,306 posts

259 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
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Why the need to prove it? If sound didn't travel through water, sonar wouldn't work and we wouldn't know what whale song sounded like. And they'd never have found Red October.

squareflops

1,852 posts

201 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Don't really need to prove it. Could just watch 'Das Boot' (epic film so watch it anyway) our German friends in the sub could here the turning propellers of the destroyer well above as it went over head trying to locate them in order to, give them their best wishes i presume...

Minnsy

Original Poster:

415 posts

285 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Have to prove it. Its a challenge. Albeit a pretty crap one.

Murray993

1,515 posts

251 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Minnsy said:
Have to prove it. Its a challenge. Albeit a pretty crap one.
Albeit - often written but hardly used in converstaion. Shame its a great word

Stevenj214

4,941 posts

246 months

Tuesday 28th April 2009
quotequote all
Minnsy said:
Have to prove it. Its a challenge. Albeit a pretty crap one.
Head under water, someone out of water talks to you...