Vibration of Air Columns

Resonance Column & Organ Pipe

In Acoustics a closed pipe or organ pipe means a tube closed at one end. An open
pipe or organ pipe means a tube open at both ends. When a standing wave (statio
nary wave) is formed in an organ pipe, the closed end will be a node and the ope
n end will be an antinode. This is why the length of the pipe in the fundamental
mode is equal to ?/4 (which is the distance between neighbouring node and antin
ode) in a closed pipe. In an open pipe, in the fundamental mode, the length of t
he pipeis equal to ?/2 since the consecutive antinodes are located at the ends o
f the tube.
You should remember that a closed pipe can support odd harmonics only where as a
n open pipe can support all harmonics. In other words, the frequencies of vibrat
ion of the air column in a closed pipe are in the ratio 1: 3 : 5 : 7 : etc., whi
le those in an open pipe are in the ratio 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : etc.
Now, consider the following MCQ:
An open organ pipe and a closed organ pipe have the same length. The ratio of th
eir fundamental frequencies is
(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 4 (e) 3/4
If L is the length of the pipe, we have, L = ?/2 for the open pipe and L = ?'/4 fo
r the closed pipe where ? and ?' are the wave lengths of sound in the two cases
(in the fundamental mode).
The corresponding fundamental frequencies are n = v/ ? = v/2L and n' = v/?' = v/
4L, from which n/n' = 2 [Option (b)].
Let us consider another question:
Almost the entire length of an aluminium pipe of length 1.1m is dipped verticall
y in water contained in a tall jar. An excited tuning fork of frequency 500 Hz i
s held at the upper end of the pipe and the pipe is gradually raised. How many d
iscrete resonance conditions are possible? (Speed of sound in air = 330 m/s)
(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 4 (e) 5
The arrangement mentioned in this problem makes a simple resonance column appara
tus. The wave length of sound emitted by the fork, ? = v/n = 330/500 = 0.6666 m.
The first resonance (fundamental mode) is obtained when the exposed length of th
e pipe is ?/4. The second resonance is obtained when the exposed length is 3 ?/4
. These two are definitely possible since the length of the pipe is 1.1 m and ?
= 0.6666 m.
The third resonance will be obtained when the exposed length is 5?/4 = 50.6666/4
= 0.83 m. This too is possible.
The fourth resonance will be obtained when the exposed length of the pipe is 7?/
4 = 70.6666/4 = 1.16 m. This is not possible since the length of the entire pipe
is 1.1 m only.
So, the correct option is (c).