The Rubens tube

Abstract

In 1905, Heinrich Rubens and Otto Krigar-Menzel published a paper describing a unique acoustics teaching apparatus. They developed a flammable gas-filled tube with holes in the top that revealed the acoustic standing wave behavior via the height of flames above the tube. Interestingly, their article holds the distinction of being printed immediately following Einstein's Nobel-prize winning paper on the photoelectric effect. From that auspicious beginning, the "Rubens tube" has been used for over a century in the teaching of acoustical resonance behavior. This article describes some of the history around the tube's development and its operation, as well as some of the commentary and investigations involving the flame tube found in the literature. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America.