title: Measurement of the speed of sound in ethanol/water mixtures.
abstract: Ethanol/water mixtures are used commonly as a propagation medium in test objects to calibrate the measurement facilities of ultrasound (US) imaging systems. The speed of sound c in the mixture should be known, preferably with an accuracy of +/-0.1% where clinical measurements to +/-1% are required. This article describes measurements of c in several ethanol/water mixtures over a range of temperatures using a simple pulse superposition technique, which gives an estimated measurement uncertainty of 0.1%. The measurements show that, at 20 degrees C, a mixture of 9.5 +/- 0.25% ethanol by volume in distilled water is required to give a speed of 1540 +/- 1.5 m s(-1). However, to achieve this accuracy, the temperature of the mixture must be maintained in the range 20 degrees +/- 0.75 degrees C.
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics Department, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK, LE1 5WW. kmartin@lri.org.uk
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spinks
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry*; D012016:Reference Values; D013016:Sound; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D000431:Ethanol