The Music of Physics

Physics of the Mundane

Adam Johnston

Sound is the result of vibrations of particles of air, water, etc.; and the orderedness of these vibrations determine the orderedness of the sounds which we hear.  Such vibrations travel as waves.  This is the basis for musical instruments.

With a column of water (adjustable height), tuning forks and rubber mallet, describe/characterize how musical instruments work.  You might address the following questions:

C  Under what conditions will the tube resonate?

C  For a given tuning fork, how many different water column positions allow for resonance?  What is the relationship between these different water column positions?  By finding one, can you predict others?  It would be especially informative to show this information graphically.

C  What is the relationship between the pitch of the tuning fork and the depth of the water column?  Why?

C  Could more than one pitch resonate at the same water column position?  How would this sound?

C  How is this similar/different from a guitar string? . . . an organ pipe? . . . a trombone?

C  Who is more musically talented: Dave Matthews Band, Billy Joel, or John Tesh?  (While this isn=t really a serious question, it is interesting to note that physics doesn=t have the answer to this.  Hard to believe?)

C  What is your favorite color?  (Again, physics doesn=t have the answer B at least not that I know of.)