Simple Experiment to Show Gravity Does Not Affect the Velocity of Sound

Abstract

In the present work, we have designed an electronic setup to experimentally verify that gravity does not directly affect the velocity of sound as stated by Lord Rayleigh. For this purpose, we have designed a setup comprising of two sensors namely ultrasonic sensor and accelerometer and a microcontroller Raspberry Pi to determine the values of sound velocity and acceleration due to gravity. The setup was then carefully enclosed in a box with bubble pack and dropped from a height of [Formula: see text]. At this height, there is no variation in air pressure and density, thus, the only parameter which is being varied is acceleration due to gravity. Under the free fall condition, the Raspberry Pi was programmed to control the working of both the sensors and store their responses in the memory card. The results show that the acceleration due to gravity acting upon the setup becomes negligible soon after it is dropped but the velocity of sound remains unaffected.