Organ Pipes with Adjustable Stops - Physics Demonstrations - Organ Pipes with Adjustable Stops | Physics Undergraduate Labs

Organ pipes can be very loud. Start with low air pressure and increase gradually. Excessive pressure can damage the pipes.

Purpose

Demonstrates the inverse relationship between air column length and resonant frequency. Students hear pitch change in real time as the adjustable stop slides in and out, making $f \propto 1/L$ immediately audible.

Two square wooden organ pipes of different lengths lying on a gray surface, each with an adjustable stop at the top and a turned wooden finial at the bottom

Figure 1: Two adjustable wooden organ pipes. The longer pipe produces a lower pitch; sliding the stop changes the effective air column length.

Organ Pipe Hose

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Adjustable Organ Pipe

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Safety Warnings

Warning: Loud Sound Production

Purpose