Standing Waves in Strings

EXPERIMENT 2 STANDING WAVES IN STRINGS (COMPUTERIZED)

1.0

OBJECTIVES 1. 2. To study the relationship between the speed of a vibrating spring and the linear density of spring. To determine linear density of string

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APPARATUS 1. 2. 3. SWEK-T01 A computer with installed VA 10.0.5 PC microphone

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THEORY

If a string fixed at both ends (e.g. a guitar string) is plucked, it begins to vibrate. If the string is driven periodically, it vibrates at the frequency of the driving force. The amplitude of the vibration is at a greatest at a resonance frequency, when a standing wave is set up. For any such string driven by an external vibrator, there will be a lowest frequency resonance called the fundamental with a frequency f1. At the fundamental frequency, the wavelength () is twice as long as the string length (L). Hence the fundamental frequency f1 is given by: L

Figure 1: Standing wave

f1

v 2L

(1)

where v is the velocity of waves in the string and L is the length of the string that is oscillating. Higher resonant frequencies (called harmonics) are integer multiples of the fundamental frequency.

Standing Waves in Strings The velocity of the waves is given by:

(2)

where T is the tension of string and is the mass per unit length of the string (linear mass density). Replacing v in equation 1 with equation 2 we find that the fundamental frequency (f1) is given by:

f1

1 F 2L

(3)

Squaring both sides of equation 3 we obtain:

f12

F 4 L2

(4)

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EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

Part A: Constant Force 1. 2. 3. Connect PC microphone to the computer. Open Visual Analyser (VA) software by clicking ikon Activate VA by clicking . String holder Tension adjustor .

String
L

G-clamp

PC

Pointer
Tape.

Tension scale

Microphone Figure 2: Schematic diagram of SWEK-T01 4. 5. 6. Loose the G-clamp and moves it until the pointer shows 20 cm. It means the length of string is 20 cm. Set the tension adjustor at 20 N. Then tight the G-clamp. L Make sure that PC microphone at position as shown in Figure 2 2 (means microphone in between of holder and G-clamp) .

Standing Waves in Strings 7. Pluck the string at the middle of string between string holder and Gclamp. Observe the signal displayed on the monitor. Keep plucking the string until you get highest peak of signal then click . Put the cursor on the highest peak then click to get the reading of frequency. Record your data in Table 1. Loose the G-clamp and move to the position of 25 cm. Repeat step 6 to 8. Repeat the experiment until you get at least 7 set of data.

8. 9. 10. 11.

Part B: Constant Length 1. 2. 3. 4. Loose G-clamp and move to position of 30 cm (you can choose any fix position). Set up tension of string to 10N by adjusting the tension adjustor. Then tight the G-clamp. Make sure that PC microphone at position as shown in Figure 2 (means microphone in between of holder and G-clamp). 7. Pluck the string at the middle of string and observe the signal displayed on the monitor. Keep plucking the string until you get highest peak of signal then click . Put the cursor on the highest peak then click to get the reading of frequency. 8. Record your data in Table 2. Loose G-clamp and set up tension of string to 15 N. Then tight the Gclamp. Repeat step 4 to 5. Repeat the experiment until you get at least 7 set of data.

5. 6. 7. 8.

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DATA & ANALYSIS Part A: Constant force

String tension: ____________ N Table 1 Length, L (cm) 20 Frequency, f (Hz)

Standing Waves in Strings 1. Plot graph of length against frequency. 2. Find gradient of graph 3. From the gradient of graph, find linear density of string, , where

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Part B: Constant length

Length of string: ______________ cm Table 2 Force, F (N) Frequency, f (Hz)

1. 2. 3. 4.

Plot graph of force against frequency. Find gradient of graph From the gradient of graph, find linear density of string, , where Compare your finding between part A and part B.

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QUESTIONS a) b) c) What happen to your result if G-clamp is not tight properly? If you plucked the string not in the middle, how it can contribute the error of the experiment? How to measure the linear density of string in the simplest way? Explain your answer by including apparatus and procedure.