Instruments

Wind:
OurPVCfluteisabletoplaysevendifferentnotesbecausevibratingairisforcedoutin
differentareascreatingdifferentnotes.Wemeasuredtheholesatdifferentlengthstoplaythe
notesC,D,E,F,A,andB.Theairintheflutevibratesandtheenergyisradiatedassoundand
forcedoutanyoftheopenholes.Theenergylostisreplacedbythefluteplayerbreathinginto
thelargerhole,whichgoesintotheflute.Thecolumnofairinsidetheflutevibratesmoreeasily
atsomefrequenciesthanothers,whichdeterminestheplayingfrequencyandpitch.Adifferent
combinationofcoveredholescreatesadifferentpitch.Themorefingersyouplaceoverthe
holes,thelowerthenoteswillbe.Thelessamountofholescovered,thehigherthenoteswill
be.Thisisbecause,theairwillhavetotravelfurthertoescapewhentherearemoreholes
covered.Thefartherithastotravel,theloweritwillsoundandthelongerwavelengthitwill
have.Tofindthelengthoftheholefromthemouthpiecewedividedtheoriginalwavelengthof
thenoteby4(L=W/4).Weknewtodivideby4,becauseawindinstrumentonlyhasofa
wholewavelength.Inotherwords,therearethreeareasofpressure:high,low,andequilibrium.
Whenyoublowintoapipe,yourlipscreatehighpressure.Whereverthereisahole,airenters
thetubeatneutralpressureandneutralizesittoequilibrium.Theareafromhighpressureto
equilibriumonlymakesupaquarterofawave,sotofindthelengthtothehole,wedividethe
originalnoteintoquarters.

FluteNote

Wavelength()

LengthFromMouthpiece
(cm)

C4

132cmx

33cm

D4

117.5cmx

30cm

E4

105cmx

26cm

F4

99cmx

24.75cm

G4

88cmx

22cm

A4

78cmx

20cm

B4

70cmx

18cm

Chimes:
Theshorterthechime,thehigherthenaturalfrequency.Eachindividualchimeisable
toplayadifferentnote.Thisisbecauseofthenaturalfrequencyofthematerial,whichis
determinedbythediameter,thelength,andthesize.Shortandnarrowchimescreateahigher
soundthanlongandwidebecausetheyvibratequicker.Hardermaterialsproduceaclearer
sounds,becausetheyvibratefaster.Unlikemostinstruments,thechimesarecompletely
independentofvibrationsoftheairwithinthetube.Thevibrationstravelthelengthofthetube,
producingsoundwaves.Thelongerthelengthofthetube,thelowerthenaturalfrequency.Our
chimesareshortandnarrow,sotheyproduceahighersound.Wehungourchimessotheycan
resonatefreelyandproduceaclearsound.Wefoundthelengthsofourchimesbyusingthe
2
ratio1/(length)
.Wecutandtunedourfirstchimeandthenusedtheratiotofindtheother
lengthsbecausethefrequenciesareproportionaltothelengths.

ChimeNumber

Length(cm)

20.6cm

19.4cm

18.4cm

17.8cm

16.8cm

16cm

15cm

14.6cm

String:
Thestringsoftheguitarvibrate,andtheshapeoftheguitaritselfamplifiesthesoundso
itcanbeheard.Stringshavetheirownnaturalfrequency,justlikeourchimes.Instead,the
naturalfrequencyisdependedonthetensionofthestringandthelengthofthestring.Onceone

oftheguitarstringsisplucked,thestringthenvibrates,anditproducesthenaturalfrequency.
Theguitarbasethencausesthesoundtobecomelouder.Thethicknessofthestring
determineshowfastitcanvibratebackandforth.Athickerstringwillvibrateslower,andcreate
alowerpitchthanathinnerstring.

Inatraditionalguitar,thestringsareslightlydifferentthicknessesandlengthswithatuningpeg
totunetheguitarifitwastobecomeoutoftune.Forourguitar,weusedthesamematerialfor
thestrings,whichmeansthatweneededtomakethelengthsdifferentfromeachother.We
havesevendifferentstrings,whichareatdifferentlengthsandplaydifferentnotes.Thestrings
areattachedtoascrewwhichcanbetightenedorloosenedtotunetheinstrument.Tofindthe
stringlength,wedividedthewavelengthofeachnoteinhalf.Thisisbecausewhenyouplaya
stringinstrument,youonlystrumupwards.Thestringcannotmoveintwodirectionsatonceit
onlymovesupordown.WithonlytheupORdownmotion,wedonotgettheotherhalfofthe
waveweonlyhavehalfofthewavelength.Thisiswhywedividetheoriginalnoteswavelength
inhalf.

StringNote

Wavelength()

StringLength(cm)

C4

132cmx

66cm

D4

117.5cmx

59cm

E4

105cmx

52cm

F4

99cmx

49.5cm

G4

88cmx

44cm

A4

78cmx

39cm

B4

70cmx

35cm