Rod wavelength in a Kundt tube ($c_{\mathrm{rod}}/c_{\mathrm{gas}}={\lambda }_{\mathrm{rod}}/{\lambda }_{\mathrm{gas}}$)

A freely moving rod end has zero axial stress, not zero axial displacement. For a uniform slender rod of length $\ell$, its low-frequency extensional modes have shapes ${\xi }_r(x)\propto \cos (n\pi x/\ell )$ and wavelengths ${\lambda }_r=2\ell /n$. A centre clamp is compatible with the $n=1$ displacement node and ${\lambda }_r=2\ell$; clamps at $\ell /4$ and $3\ell /4$ are compatible with $n=2$ and ${\lambda }_r=\ell$. The support positions therefore matter before a gas wavelength can determine a rod speed of sound.

For a chosen model with $E=200\mathrm{GPa}$, ${\rho }_r=8000kg/{\mathrm{m}}^3$ and $\ell =1.60\mathrm{m}$, the slender-rod extensional relation $c_r=\sqrt{E/{\rho }_r}$ gives $5000m/s$. The two-quarter-support mode then has $f=3125\mathrm{Hz}$. If the gas has stipulated $c_g=343m/s$, its half-wavelength is $d_g=54.88\mathrm{mm}$, andThe centre-supported fundamental would instead have $f=1562.5\mathrm{Hz}$ and twice that gas spacing. The same rod material has not changed its wave speed. In this slender-rod model, $E$ is Young's modulus; a bulk compressional wave involves a different elastic-modulus combination, so the two wave speeds are not interchangeable.