USING SOUND TO MEASURE TEMPERATURE

USING SOUND TO MEASURE TEMPERATURE

ABSTRACT

A method to measure the real time temperature distribution along an interferometer path based on the propagation of acoustic waves is presented. It exploits the high sensitivity of the speed of sound in air to the air temperature. In particular, it takes advantage of a special set-up where the generation of the acoustic waves is synchronous with the amplitude modulation of a laser source. A photodetector converts the laser light to an electronic signal considered as reference, while the incoming acoustic waves are focused on a microphone and generate a second signal. In this condition, the phase difference between the two signals substantially depends on the temperature of the air volume interposed between the sources and the receivers. The comparison with the traditional temperature sensors highlighted the limit of the latter in case of fast temperature variations and the advantage of a measurement integrated along the optical path instead of a sampling measurement. The capability of the acoustic method to compensate the interferometric distance measurements due to air temperature variations has been demonstrated for distances up to 27 m.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

A temperature is an objective comparative measure of hot or cold. It is measured by a thermometer, which may work through the bulk behaviour of a thermometric material, detection of thermal radiation , or particle kinetic energy Several scales and units exist for measuring temperature, the most common being Celsius (denoted °C; formerly called centigrade), Fahrenheit (denoted °F), and, especially in science, Kelvin (denoted K).

The coldest theoretical temperature is absolute zero, at which the thermal motion in matter would be zero. However, an actual physical system or object can never attain a temperature of absolute zero. Absolute zero is denoted as 0 K on the Kelvin scale, −273.15 °C on the Celsius scale, and −459.67 °F on the Fahrenheit scale.

The kinetic theory offers a valuable but limited account of the behaviour of the materials of macroscopic systems, especially of fluids. It indicates the absolute temperature as proportional to the average kinetic energy of the random microscopic motions of their constituent microscopic particles such as electrons, atoms, and molecules.

Temperature is important in all fields of natural science, including physics, geology, chemistry, atmospheric sciences, medicine , and biology—as well as most aspects of daily life. Many physical processes are affected by temperature, such as physical properties of materials including the phase ( solid , liquid , gaseous or plasma), density , solubility, vapour pressure , electrical conductivity rate and extent to which chemical reactions occur the amount and properties of thermal radiation emitted from the surface of an object speed of sound is a function of the square root of the absolute temperature.

Temperature scales differ in two ways: the point chosen as zero degrees, and the magnitudes of incremental units or degrees on the scale.

The Celsius scale (°C) is used for common temperature measurements in most of the world. It is an empirical scale. It developed by a historical progress, which led to its zero point 0 °C being defined by the freezing point of water, with additional degrees defined so that 100 °C was the boiling point of water, both at sea-level atmospheric pressure. Because of the 100 degree interval, it is called a centigrade scale. [1] Since the standardization of the kelvin in the International System of Units, it has subsequently been redefined in terms of the equivalent fixing points on the Kelvin scale, and so that a temperature increment of one degree Celsius is the same as an increment of one kelvin, though they differ by an additive offset of 273.15.

The United States commonly uses the Fahrenheit scale, on which water freezes at 32 °F and boils at 212 °F at sea-level atmospheric pressure.

Many scientific measurements use the kelvin temperature scale (unit symbol K), named in honour of the Scottish physicist who first defined it. It is a thermodynamic or absolute temperature scale. Its zero point, 0 K, is defined to coincide with coldest physically-possible temperature (called absolute zero). Its degrees are defined through thermodynamics. The temperature of absolute zero occurs at 0 K = -273.15 °C (or −459.67 °F), and the freezing point of water at sea-level atmospheric pressure occurs at 273.15 K = 0 °C.

USING SOUND TO MEASURE TEMPERATURE