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Sunday, 27 March 2011

How does the density of a material affect the properties of sound traveling from a tuning fork?



Guiding Question:
How does the density of a material affect the properties of sound traveling from a tuning fork?
Hypothesis: The more dense the surface the lower the pitch
Controlled Variable
Tuning fork- G 384
Force- one medium hit
Manipulated Variable
Object- we are using four different types of materials.
Materials
  • Tuner
  • Notebook
  • Glass
  • Wood
  • Aluminum
  • Locker material

Tuner – G-348
Surface
Pitch Loudness
Aluminum
2800 kg/m3
Aluminum is the densest material that we tested. What we observed is that Aluminum produced the softest sound.
Glass
2500 kg/m3
Glass was a lot louder that aluminum was, it had an annoying sound. While Blaise was listening to it, I could hear it clearly about 1/2 meter away from the glass.
Wood (oak)
600 kg/m3
Wood was a lot louder, than both aluminium and the Glass, although it had a softer sound than the Locker.
Locker (steel)
222.260
The locker was the loudest, and least dense from all the materials above. While Blaise was listening to the locker, i stood about 2 meters away from the locker and could hear it.


Conclusion
What I conclude from this lab/experiment, is that the less dense the material, the louder the sound is. It turns out the hypothesis I had was incorrect in the end. What I have learned from this lab, is that the less dense a material is, the louder the sound will be once heard with a tuning fork's vibration.
If I were to do this experiment again, I would probably have used more materials, such as a phone, laptop, or a toilet seat. I would find that pretty interesting, although only if i wouldn't have to put my head on the toilet seat (disgusting.)

Guiding Question:
How does the density of a material affect the properties of sound traveling from a tuning fork?
Hypothesis: The more dense the surface the lower the pitch
Controlled Variable
Tuning fork- B 480
Force- one medium hit
Manipulated Variable
Object- we are using four different types of materials.

Tuner – B-480
Surface
Pitch Loudness
Aluminum
2800 kg/m3
Aluminum is the densest material that we tested. What we observed is that Aluminum produced the softest sound.
Glass
2500 kg/m3
Glass was a lot louder that aluminum was, again. While it also had a very intense sound.
Wood (oak)
600 kg/m3
Wood was a lot louder, than both aluminium and the Glass, and had an intense ringing.
Locker (steel)
222.260
Surprisingly this material was way louder than any of the other materials, even with a shorter tuner it was a very loud and intense pitch and sound.

Conclusion:
Next to the first lab Blaise and I completed, this was the probably the same. In this lab we used a different tuner; we used one high, and one shorter tuner. Blaise and I wanted to check if the results of the two different tuners would be identical, or completely different, or in the middle. What we found out is that the two tuners made almost identical sounds. What we found out is that with both tuners, the less dense the material was, the louder the sound was.
Further Inquiry:
If I were to redo either, or both of these tests, I would, as mentioned in the first conclusion, that I would attempt to use a locker, a phone, and/or a toilet seat. I would use these materials because I think they would make a different sound. Al-in-all, I think I worked pretty well on this project, and that me and my partner (Blaise) did a pretty good job together!



1 comment:

  1. A toilet seat indeed would be an interesting sound, but I'm not sure you'd want to put your head on a school toilet. :( The lab report was very well done, you didn't need to insert another guiding question, but I like that you used two different frequencies. The conclusion was based on the evidence that you collected which was great!

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