Abstract
Here's a cool project for studying compression waves in different soil types. It uses a homemade wave tank for solids, with a frequency generator, amplifier, and loudspeaker as the vibration source. There are lots of interesting possibilities for variations with this one.Objective
The objective of this project is to learn if different types of soil or sand decrease the magnitude of compression waves.
Experimental Procedure
In order to test our hypothesis, a wave tank for solids was constructed. A loudspeaker was mounted at the base of the tank and a sound generator and amplifier were connected to the loudspeaker to create vibrations similar to that of an earthquake. An accelerometer connected to computer probeware was used to measure wave amplitude. Variations of both sand and soil were tested, separately, and a wooden box was placed over the accelerometer in half of the 105 tests. LoggerPro and FreqGenie softwares were also initialized. LoggerPro was primarily used to collect and graph the data, while FreqGenie was used to initiate the waves and control the amplitude of the speaker. The accelerometer was placed in three separate positions to ensure that conclusions would prove accurate.
Variations
Credits
Alexander Pherson; Sophie Scheidlinger
Last edit date: 2005-08-31 14:03:48
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