COUNTY SLIGO
SEO CONTAE SHLIGIGH
2002 A.D.

 
EXPERIMENT NO. 9: SPEED OF SOUND AND LIGHT
We see lightning before we hear the thunder, and in this experiment we compare the time it takes both to travel.
(Save this page, edit the Date and the Laboratory entries, and  print it out. Then do the experiment.)
Laboratory: Stokane National School
Date: 27th March 2002
Objective: To investigate the relationship between speed of sound and speed of light.
Apparatus: A biscuit tin (drum) and a beater (drum-stick)
Method: One child beats drum slowly with up/down movement while other children watch and listen at a distance.
REPORT
Edward took the bass drum and one beater to the end of the field near the road while the rest of the children watched and listened from the other end of the field. The children could see Edward's arm move downwards to beat the drum, but the sound of the beat arrived as his arm was raised. We read more about this in the Encyclopaedia.

CONCLUSION

Light travels faster than sound. Because light travels faster than sound, we see lightning before we hear the thunder.
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