Let's see the sound waves: where physics meets art!

Agenda 2020

13TH INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SCHOOL

Acoustics, Cymatics

Have you ever seen the sound waves?! I guess the answer is NO! In this project, we are going to visualize, photograph, and investigate the sound waves with some cool physics experiments.

By Diana Domingo, MA, CYT

Before doing experiments, we will learn some fundamentals about waves and their behavior in different mediums, then we'll try together to design an experimental setup to visualize the sound waves in water and enjoy watching them! But only watching?! Of course, NO! We'll record these wave patterns by taking photographs using DSLR cameras. Take a look at the picture below, showing some kind of these patterns. If you're interested in physics and photography and have some experiences of working with DSLR cameras you will enjoy this project!

Now we're ready and equipped to begin the scientific journey! In the main part of the project, we're going to explore how the wave patterns are related to the sound signals by following the steps of the scientific method. You as young scientists will find and list the relevant parameters and design a set of experiments using the visualization setup to find the relations. After doing experiments you will have lots of images that need to be analyzed. The captured images will be analyzed using an image processing software resulting in appropriate graphs and figures to reveal the effect of changing parameters on the wave patterns. In the last step, we will try to examine different fluids and figure out the effect of fluid parameters on the wave patterns.

So many other cool and complicated phenomena also occur during these experiments that could be photographed and investigated depending on how much you're curious and passionate!

Tutors

Seyed Mohammad Hasheminasab Zavare

Tehran, Iran

Mohammad is a Ph.D. candidate in aerodynamics at Tehran Polytechnic and has attended the University of Calgary, Canada as a visiting Ph.D. researcher. His research is focused on the acoustic effects of turbulent fluid flow, applying both numerical simulations and state-of-the-art experimental flow visualization techniques.

Besides being an academic researcher, he has always been passionate about teaching, research, and promoting scientific thinking in young students. He has been teaching physics, organizing various science workshops and field trips, and supervising research projects for the middle school and highschool talented students of the "National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents" in Iran for more than 14 years. He is now following his dream in promoting research and science as the founder of CanDoSchool.ir, the first online research school in Iran. He is also a co-founder and research manager of Negaresh middle school, one of the pioneers of research-based schools in Iran. In his free time, he enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing, camping, stargazing, and astrophotography.

Soroush Nourolvara

Tehran, Iran

Soroush earned a Master's degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from Tehran University. As a teacher, he has been involved in student projects centered on chemistry, physics, and robotics for more than five years. In the last 5 years, he has been the talent acquisition manager and content production manager of the Ibne Sina Student National Festival. His activities involve selecting distinctive teachers and planning and supervising the production of the specialized scientific content in various fields for the Festival which is held every year in Tehran with the participation of more than 5,000 students. He has been assigned as the jury, supervisor, and student group leader in various international events.

As an engineer, he always makes a way to fulfill the projects, and as a researcher, he always emphasizes the principles of research methods. Over the years, he has interacted with hundreds of different students to perform and improve the research projects.