Waves & Oscillations

Designation	Topic	Name	Description	Materials	Photo
Oscillations-01	Simple Harmonic Motion	Pendula	Compare same length pend w/ different masses. Compare different length pend w/ same masses. Compare same length pend w/ same mass but different amplitudes.	Lab stand w/horizontal bar Two longer strings (w/loop, must be equal length) 1 shorter string (w/loop) Various masses
Oscillations-02	Simple Harmonic Motion	Bowling Ball Pendulum	Measure the period	Bowling ball pendulum
Oscillations-03	Simple Harmonic Motion	Mass on Spring	Show that the motion is oscillatory.	Lab stand w/horizontal bar Spring Masses
Oscillations- 04	Resonance	Mechanical Oscillator	Place mechanical oscillator on one end of track, attach a spring to oscillator and the cart. Attach the other spring to the opposite end of cart and to an end stop. Turn on oscillator to drive the cart. Change oscillator's frequency to find resonances.	Pasco track 2 harmonic springs Collision cart End stop Mechanical oscillator
Oscillations-05	Period	Racing Pendula	Compare same length pend w/ different masses. Compare different length pend w/ same masses. Compare same length pend w/ same mass but different amplitudes.	2 lab stands w/horizontal bar Two rigid identical pendula Adjustable height masses
Oscillations-06	Resonance	Resonance Posts	This demo has three different length pairs of vertical rods with weights on the top. Start one rod moving and only its partner will start moving too.	Resonance demo
Oscillations-07	Resonance	Many Pendula	Hold the rod horizontally in one hand with the five pendula hanging down. Tell class that you can make any one weight swing just using the power of your mind. Concentrate on that weight. Make it swing by moving your hand slightly in resonance. PRACTICE!	2' rod Five lengths of string (8", 12", 16", 20", 24") 50-100 g each
Oscillations- 08	Resonance	Bowling Ball Pendulum w/ Mallet	Hit the bowling ball at the resonant frequency. It will start to move. Ask: Will it move faster if I hit it more often? Hit the BB at a much higher frequency. It doesn't move much.	Bowling ball pendulum Rubber mallet
Oscillations-09 (New April 2016)	Resonance	Pendulum Wave	Use acrylic bar to start all pendulums simultaneously.	Pendulum wave

Designation	Topic	Name	Description	Materials	Photo
Waves-01	Transverse Waves	Shake Rope	Get a volunteer to hold one end of the rope. Use the other end to show transverse waves along the rope.	Long rope
Waves-02	LongitudinalWaves	Slinky	Show longitudinal waves.	Slinky (long and short)
Waves-03	Standing Waves	Standing Waves	Stretch string horizontally from lab stand, across the table, and over pulley. Put weights on weight hanger on end of string (use enough weight to get the fundamental to a reasonable frequency). Attach loudspeaker via clip to the string near the lab stand. Connect frequency generator to loudspeaker. Find the resonances. Show that the harmonics are multiples of the fundamental.	Loudspeaker with attached clip Frequency generator String Lab stand Table clamp pulley Weight hanger Weights Strobe light
Waves-04	Standing Waves	Standing Waves 2	Put a paper 'hanger' at the 3/4 point. Hold the 1/2 point. Pluck the string at the 1/4 point. What happens to the hanger? Repeat for higher order.	Same as Waves-03, but w/o loudspeaker 2 meter sticks
Waves-05	Standing Waves	Stringin' It	Adjust motor frequency to get standing wave. Adjust strobe frequency to freeze the wave. Show that the frequencies of different resonances are simply related.	Stringin it demo Strobe light Black backdrop
Waves-06 (see also: Sound-03)	Doppler Effect	Doppler Ball	Swing it around in a horizontal circle above your head. Able to use as a regular ball to toss back and forth with a student.	Doppler ball
Waves-07	Waves and Damped Oscillators	Wave Machine	Show waves. Attach reflector to show how waves reflect. Attach dampener to dampen the waves.	Wave machine Wave dampener Wave reflector
Waves-08	Standing Waves	Kundt's Tube	Place talc or cork dust in tube and distribute evently along the length of the tube. Place the lound speaker at open end of tube. Form standing waves in the powder.	Long clear tube with opening at one end Talc or cork dust Loud speaker Function generator
Waves-09	Standing Waves	Chladni Plates	Attach plate to top of wave driver. Pour sand onto plate and turn on function generator. Adjust frequency to show different standing waves on different shaped plates.	Chladni plates of various shapes Wave driver (Pasco SF-9324) Function generator Sand Paper box lid Broom
Waves-10	Standing Waves	Standing Waves 3	Attach table clamp to table and run rope through top piece. Wave free end to create standing waves.	Rope Table clamp
Waves-11	Waves	3D Harmonic Motion	Turn off room lights and aim spotlight at machine. Spin it and show projection of wave's shadow on wall.	3D harmonic motion machine Spotlight

Designation	Topic	Name	Description	Materials	Photo
Sound-01	Properties of Sound	Buzzer in Vacuum	Turn on buzzer. Listen to it. Pump air out of bell jar. Buzzer gets much fainter but the bulb stays the same brightness. Let the air back in. The buzzer gets louder.	Buzzer and lightbulb in vacuum Vacuum pump
Sound-02	Properties of Sound	Paper Cup Telephones	Use as a "telephone".	Two paper cups String
Sound-03 see also: Waves-06	Doppler Effect	Doppler Ball	Swing it around in a horizontal circle above your head. Able to use as a regular ball to toss back and forth with a student.	Doppler ball
Sound-04	Standing Waves	Flame Tube	Flow gas thru tube for approximately 90 seconds. Make sure all air is purged from tube. Ignite flames with a long match. Connect frequency generator to speaker. Find standing waves. Do this away from drafts and breezes.	Flame tube Propane tank Frequency generator Match Fire extinguisher
Sound-05	Vibrations and Damped Oscillations	Tuning Fork in Water	Strike tuning fork. Quench by putting in water. Barely dipping into water makes water spray. Need to carry around the room or put on camera (hard to see)	Tuning fork Cup of water
Sound-06	Vibrations	Soap Trumpet	Put bubble soap in pie plate. Insert PVC pipe into funnel to make the trumpet. Dip the trumpet bell into the soap solution. Blow slightly to make the bubble protrude. Sound the trumpet! The bubble vibrates but does not pop. PRACTICE!	PVC pipe Oil change funnel 'trumpet' Pie plate Bubble soap Paper towel Funnel
Sound-07	Resonance	Different Length Tubes	Longer tubes make lower notes. It doesn't matter how they are blown (recorder mouthpiece vs pan-pipe vs 'trumpet'). Note that it can be quite hard to reach the fundamental on the recorders.	Different length PVC pipe Ppan pipes Recorders Trumpets of various lengths
Sound-08	Air Column Instruments	Straw Oboe	Make straw oboes according to instruction sheets. Play.	Straws Scissors Instruction sheets
Sound-09	Beat Frequency	Slide Whistle Beats	Pull both slides all the way out. Blow both whistles simultaneously. Adjust one slide to get a good beat frequency. Cheap, easy, reliable! Harder to show on Oscope.	Two slide whistles
Sound-10	Beat Frequency	Loudspeaker Beats	Adjust the frequencies to get beats. Can show on Oscope.	Two loudspeakers Two frequency generators
Sound-11	Interference	Sound Cancellation	Wire one speaker backwards. Place both speakers face to face. Sound is louder when one speaker is disconnected than when both are connected and cancelling! Try this first to see what kind of music will work best.	Stereo with two loudspeakers Some recording or other
Sound-12	Harmonics	Harmonics	Blow harmonics. Blow taps or other bugle calls?	PVC recorders
Sound-13	Wave Analysis	Oscilloscope and Mic 1	Blow notes. See them on the Oscope.	Different length PVC pipe Can bring pan pipes, recorders, trumpets of various lengths
Sound-14	Wave Analysis	Oscilloscope and Mic 2	Play lots of different instruments. Sing. Talk. See waveforms on scope.	Oscilloscope Microphone Visual presenter
Sound-15	Wave Analysis	Oscilloscope and Mic 3	Acquire waveforms with Audacity and display to class. Play lots of different instruments. Sing. Talk. Show beat frequencies. See waveforms on scope. Use FFT to show frequency spectrum	Laptop Audacity or other software
Sound-16	Standing Waves	Resonance Tube	Movable mircrophone allows you to investigate nodes and anti-nodes with different frequencies and different length tubes.	Pasco Resonance Tube Function generator Banana-banana cables (1 red, 1 black)
Sound-17	Properties of Sound	Keyboard	Play various notes, harmonics, and chords.	Keyboard
Sound-18	Sound Intensity	Sound Level Meter	Whistle, talk, sing, yell at sound level meter and show multiple decibel readings.	Sound level meter Portable Elmo camera