Open and closed pipe ends reflect pressure pulses with inverted phase

Evidence

When the compression pulse reaches the far end of the pipe, it is reflected in one of the two ways described in the “standing waves” sec­ tion of Chapter 1 (Section 1.5.7), depending on whether the end is open or closed. At a closed end there is a pressure antinode and a compression pulse is reflected back down the pipe. At an open end there is a pressure node and a compression pulse is reflected back as a rarefaction pulse to maintain atmospheric pressure at the open end of the pipe. Similarly, a rarefaction pulse arriving at a closed end is reflected back as a rarefaction pulse, but as a compression pulse when reflected from an open end. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1183

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the concrete reflection behavior that defines open vs. closed pipe ends.