Water Oscillation in an Open Tube

Abstract

When an open tube is placed in a tank of water, covered on top, raised, and then uncovered, the water inside the tube will oscillate. The characteristics of the oscillation of the water inside the tube were studied. It was shown that, for large oscillations, the top half-period was longer than the bottom half period due to the increased mass of the water column. For small oscillations, it approached simple harmonic motion, with the square of the period varying with mean length, as predicted by theory. An end correction was also shown to exist, due to the motion of the water outside the bottom of the tube during the oscillation. The end correction was shown to be independent of the mean length of the water column, as predicted.

Keywords

• water column
• oscillation
• sho
• end correction
• tube