Using a High-Speed Camera to Measure the Speed of Sound

The speed of sound is a physical property that can be measured easily in the lab. However, finding an inexpensive and intuitive way for students to determine this speed has been more involved. The introduction of affordable consumer-grade high-speed cameras (such as the Exilim EX-FC100) makes conceptually simple experiments feasible. Since the Exilim can capture 1000 frames a second, it provides an easy way for students to calculate the speed of sound by counting video frames from a sound-triggered event they can see. For our experiment, we popped a balloon at a measured distance from a sound-activated high-output LED while recording high-speed video for later analysis. The beauty of using this as the method for calculating the speed of sound is that the software required for frame-by-frame analysis is free and the idea itself (slow motion) is simple. This allows even middle school students to measure the speed of sound with assistance, but the ability to independently verify such a basic result is invaluable for high school or college students.