Acoustics laboratory experiments for all

Abstract

For most students, understanding scientific principles requires hands-on experience, and that is the reason for having undergraduate laboratories. This is especially true of acoustics, in which the laboratory experience is important not only to beginning and advanced students in science and engineering but also to students taking a general education course. We will describe some favorite experiments on the introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels. Most of them are based on experiments in Acoustics Laboratory Experiments, a collection of 52 experiments on all levels. Some of them are appropriate for introductory courses in musical acoustics or speech and hearing, others are suitable for physics and engineering students in more advanced courses. Ways to incorporate acoustics experiments into courses not having a scheduled laboratory period will also be discussed.