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Activity 2 Sounds in Strings

GOALS What Do You Think?

In this activity you will:
When the ancient Greeks made stringed
• Observe the effect of string musical instruments, they discovered that
length and tension upon pitch
produced.
cutting the length of the string by half or
two-thirds produced other pleasing sounds.
• Control the variables of
tension and length.
• How do guitarists or violinists today make different
• Summarize experimental
sounds?
results.
• Calculate wavelength of a Record your ideas about this question in your Active
standing wave.
Physics log. Be prepared to discuss your responses with
• Organize data in a table.
your small group and with your class.

For You To Do
1. Carefully mount a pulley over one end of a
table. Securely clamp one end of a string to
the other end of the table.
2. Tie the other end of the string around a mass hanger.
Lay the string over the pulley. Place a pencil under the

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string near the clamp, so the string can vibrate without

hitting the table, as shown in the drawing.

3. Hang one 500-g mass on the mass hanger. Pluck the string, Make sure the
area under the hanging
listen to the sound, and observe the string vibrate.
mass is clear (no feet,
a) Record your observations in your log in a table similar legs). Also monitor the
string for fraying.
to the following:

Length of Load on Pitch

vibrating string mass hanger (high, medium, low)

4. Use a key or some other small metal object. Press this object
down on the string right in the middle, to hold the string
firmly against the table. Pluck each half of the string.
a) Record the result in your table.

5. To change the string length, press down with the key at the
different places shown in the diagrams on the next page.
Pluck each part of the string.
a) Record the results in your table.

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1 1 1 3
– – – –
2 2 4 4

1 2 1 4
– – – –
3 3 5 5

6. When you pluck the string, it does not move at the ends.
Look at the drawing under Step 9 of the For You To Do
section in Activity 1. Measure the length of your string, and
find the wavelength of the vibration for each string length.
a) Record the wavelength in your table.
b) Look over the data in your table. Make a general
statement about what happens to the pitch you hear as
you change the length of the string.

Make sure the string is 7. Remove the key, so the string is its original length. Pluck
capable of holding 2 kg. the string. To investigate the effect of tightening the
string, add a second 500-g mass to the mass hanger. Pluck
the string again, observe the vibration, and listen to the
pitch of the sound.
a) Make up a table to record your data in your log.
b) Add a description of the pitch of the sound to your table.
Continue adding weights and observing the sound until
the total mass is 2000 g.
c) Look over your data. As the mass increases, the string
becomes tighter, and its tension increases. Make a general
statement about what happens to the pitch you hear as
you change the tension on the string.

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Activity 2 Sounds in Strings

FOR YOU TO READ Combining these two results into one

expression, you can say that increasing the
Changing the Pitch
tension or decreasing the length of the string
Sound comes from vibration.You will increase the pitch.
observed the vibration of the string as it produced
sound.You investigated two of the variables that The string producing the pitch is actually setting
affect the sound of a vibrating string. up a standing wave between its endpoints.The
length of the string determines the wavelength of
When you pushed the vibrating string down this standing wave.Twice the distance between
against the table, the length of the string that was the endpoints is the wavelength of the sound.The
vibrating became shorter. Shortening the string pitch that you hear is related to the frequency of
increased the pitch (resulted in a higher pitch). the wave.The higher the pitch, the higher the
In the same way, a guitarist or violinist pushes the frequency.The speed of the wave is equal to its
string against the instrument to shorten the frequency multiplied by its wavelength.
length that vibrates and increases the pitch.
v = f
When you hung weights on the end of the
where v = speed
string, that increased the pitch too.These
weights tightened the string, so they created ƒ = frequency
more tension in it.As the string tension
increased, the pitch of the sound also increased.  = wavelength
In tuning a guitar or violin, the performer If the speed of a wave is constant, a decrease in
changes the string tension by turning a peg the wavelength will result in an increase in the
attached to one end of a string.As the peg pulls frequency or a higher pitch. A shortened string
the string tighter, the pitch goes up. produces a higher pitch.

Reflecting on the Activity and the Challenge

Part of the Chapter Challenge is to create a sound show. In
this activity you investigated the relationship of pitch to length
of the string and tension of the string: the shorter the string,
the higher the pitch; the greater the tension, the higher the
pitch. You also learned that the string is setting up a standing
wave between its two ends, just like the standing wave that Physics Words
you created in the Slinky in Activity 1. That’s the physics of pitch: the quality of a
stringed instruments! If you wanted to create a stringed or sound dependent primarily
multi-string instrument for your show, you would now know on the frequency of the
sound waves produced by
how to adjust the length and tension to produce the notes you its source.
want. If you were to make such a stringed instrument, you
could explain how you change the pitch by referring to the
results of this activity.

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Physics To Go
1. a) Explain how you can change the tension of a vibrating
string.
b) Tell how changing the tension changes the pitch.

2. a) Explain how you can change the length of a vibrating

string.
b) Tell how changing the length changes the sound produced
by the string.

3. How would you change both the tension and the length and
keep the pitch the same?

4. Suppose you changed both the length and the tension of the
string at the same time. What would happen to the sound?

5. a) For the guitar and the piano, tell how a performer plays
different notes.
b) For the guitar and the piano, tell how a performer
(or tuner) changes the pitch of the strings to tune the
instrument.

6. a) Look at a guitar. Find the tuners (at the end of the neck).
Why does a guitar need tuners?
b) What is the purpose of the frets on a guitar?
c) Does a violin or a cello have frets?
d) Why do a violinist and a cellist require more accuracy in
playing than a guitarist?

7. a) Using what you have learned in this activity, design a

simple two-stringed instrument.
b) Include references to wavelength, frequency, pitch, and
standing waves in your description.
c) Use the vocabulary of wavelength, frequency, and
standing waves from Activity 1 to describe how the
instrument works.

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Activity 2 Sounds in Strings

Stretching Exercises
1. Set up the vibrating string as you did in the preceding
For You To Do. This time, you will measure the frequency
of the sound. Set up a frequency meter on your computer.
Pick up the sound with a microphone. Investigate how
changing the length of the string changes the frequency of
the sound. Create a graph to describe the relationship.

2. Set up the vibrating string, computer, and microphone as

you did in Stretching Exercise 1. This time, investigate
how changing the string tension changes the frequency of the
sound. Create a graph to describe the relationship.

3. Design an investigation to find how the diameter (thickness)

of the string or the type of material the string is made of
affects the pitch you hear. Submit your design to your
teacher for approval before proceeding to carry out your
experiments.

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