Sounds and their Waveforms

Aims:

· Connect the microphone with the oscilloscope as shown in the picture.

· Hit the tuning fork and try to get a signal on the screen of the oscilloscope.

Ask a physics teacher for help if you don’t manage to see a waveform after some time. (Don’t forget to hit the tuning fork whenever it gives no sound anymore!)

· Take one instrument (e.g. a guitar or a flute) and play different notes one after the other. Compare the different waveforms. Can you tell the main differences between them?

· Take one instrument (e.g. a guitar or a flute) and play the same note several times increasing the loudness. Compare the different waveforms. Can you tell the main differences between them?

· Take one instrument and play the same note several times with different instruments (e.g. a tuning fork, a guitar, a flute, etc.). Compare the different waveforms. Can you tell the main differences between them?

· Do all the experiments above with everyone’s voice in the group!

List of Materials:

· one oscilloscope

· one microphone

· one connecting wire (oscilloscope«microphone)

· one tuning fork and one or more instruments