Kundt tube spacing fit ($x_j=a+jd,c=2fd$)

Write the measured positions of consecutive maxima of sound pressure amplitude as $x_j=a+jd+{\epsilon }_j$. The arbitrary origin $a$ is fitted along with the half-wavelength $d$ by linear regression; forcing the line through zero would turn a ruler-origin offset into an erroneous slope. For independent equal-variance position errors of standard deviation ${\sigma }_x$,As an original example, choose $f=1000\mathrm{Hz}$, $a=24\mathrm{mm}$ and $d=171.5\mathrm{mm}$. Add stipulated position errors $(1,-1,0,0,-1,1)\mathrm{mm}$ at $j=0,\dots ,5$. Their sum and index-weighted sum vanish, so the fitted values remain $\hat{a}=24\mathrm{mm}$ and $\hat{d}=171.5\mathrm{mm}$, giving $c=343.0m/s$. These are synthetic inputs, not measurements of a particular air sample.

With stipulated ${\sigma }_x=1\mathrm{mm}$ and independent drive-frequency uncertainty ${\sigma }_f=1\mathrm{Hz}$, first-order uncertainty propagation givesThis statistical calculation omits common scale-calibration error, thermal drift and mode misidentification. Counting more positions reduces independent localization error; it cannot correct a wrong family of extrema or an incorrectly calibrated ruler.