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Wednesday, 22 November 2017

Science of the Arts: Sound

Aim: I want to find out how sound and speech work.

Research: There are two types of sound waves; Transverse and Longitudinal. Transverse waves go up and down, like a bunch of people standing in a line and bobbing down and coming back up one by one. Longitudinal waves travel out and away from their source in a straight line at the speed of sound, which can vary depending on where you are and what temperature it is.


Experiment:

Equipment: 3 wine glasses, 1 1/2 cups of water, plastic spoon

Method: Fill the first glass with 3/4 cups of water, the second with 1/2 cup and the last one has the rest. Use a plastic spoon and GENTLY hit the glasses in this order:

3-2-1-2-3-3-3
2-2-2
3-3-3
3-2-1-2-3-3-3
3-2-2-3-2-1

You've just played Mary Had a Little Lamb on wine glasses!


Sorry, the quality isn't the best!

The explanation for this:
Each glass makes a sound when you tap its side with a spoon because the spoon causes a vibrating sound wave. The sound wave travels through the water in the glass and eventually reaches your ear. Each glass makes a different sound because the sound waves travel through the water at different speeds, causing vibrations at different frequencies. (Frequency refers to the number of times a sound wave vibrates per second). The glasses with more water make lower sounds due to the amount of water causing the vibrations to be slower, causing a lower frequency. The opposite goes to glasses with higher sounds.

In conclusion, the experiment was a success. Next time I would try different shapes and sizes of glasses with the same amount of water.

4 comments:

  1. There are so many questions about sound that can extend your knowledge.
    Harmonics. Look this up.
    This there a real world application for sound waves?
    Can you cancel out noise?
    What is ultrasound?
    How can you use sound to navigate?

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