Photoacoustic determination of speed of sound in binary mixtures of water and ethyl and methyl alcohol

Abstract

The speed of sound in binary aqueous solutions of two alcohols by means of the pulsed photoacoustic technique has been determined. Hereby an analysis of the relationships of excess thermodynamic properties of the mixture to the speed of sound in it is presented. It is also shown that neither the Grüneisen coefficient nor the absorption coefficient of the mixtures are additive functions of the composition. The advantage of this method of speed determination lies in its inherent simplicity and the good precision attained. It can be used in tomography of water in different phantoms and potentially in tissues of biological origin.