3D30.70 - Rijke Tube - Hoot Tubes with Mounted Metal Screens

Code Number:
3D30.70
Demo Title:
Rijke Tube - Hoot Tubes with Mounted Metal Screens
Condition:
Excellent
Principle:
Resonance in Pipes
Area of Study:
Acoustics
Equipment:
3 Inch Diameter Metal Tube with Mounted Metal Mesh Screen, Large Bunsen Burner, Matches or Grill Lighter, Small Bunsen Burner, Small Propane Gas Bottle, and Valve.
Procedure:

Singing Tubes: Light the Bunsen burner and heat the mesh screen in the tube until it glows. Take it off the burner and for several minutes the tube should begin to "sing" whenever it is turned straight up and down.

References:
  • "Simple Sound Demonstration", TPT, Vol. 36, #1, p. 16, Jan. 1998.
  • R. E. Evans, A. A. Putnam, "Rijke Tube Apparatus", AJP, Vol. 34, 1966, p. 360.
  • W- 210:  "Singing Pipes-Straw & Scissor",  DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.
  • Jearl Walker, "Thermal Oscillators: System That Seesaw, Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat", The Amateur Scientist, Feb, 1983.
  • Robert L. Wild, "Singing Pipes", Low-Cost Physics Demonstrations, # 114, p. 68.
  • E. R. Pinkston, L. A. Crum, "Lecture Demonstrations in Acoustics", J. Acoust. Soc. Am. ( JASA) , Vol. 55, # 1, Jan. 1974, p. 2.




Disclaimer: These demonstrations are provided only for illustrative use by persons affiliated with The University of Iowa and only under the direction of a trained instructor or physicist.  The University of Iowa is not responsible for demonstrations performed by those using their own equipment or who choose to use this reference material for their own purpose.  The demonstrations included here are within the public domain and can be found in materials contained in libraries, bookstores, and through electronic sources.  Performing all or any portion of any of these demonstrations, with or without revisions not depicted here entails inherent risks.  These risks include, without limitation, bodily injury (and possibly death), including risks to health that may be temporary or permanent and that may exacerbate a pre-existing medical condition; and property loss or damage.  Anyone performing any part of these demonstrations, even with revisions, knowingly and voluntarily assumes all risks associated with them.