Overview
In this unit, we focused on waves, especially sound waves. We learned about how we hear things, how they sound, and why they sound the way they do. Our task was to create three different instruments: strings, wind, and percussion. They all had to be able to play a seven note scale. My group and I decided to build a six string guitar for the string instrument, a PVC flute for our wind instrument, and a pipe drum for our percussion instrument. We spent about a month working on the instruments. Once we had finished them , we had to tune them ( which was very hard to do especially for the string instrument). Then we had to create a document about what we did and how each of them worked. Here is the document.
Concepts
wavelength- The length of the wave. Distance from crest to crest. ex. We used the wavelength for ech note to determin string length/ hole placement.
frequency- How many waves are created/ pass in a certain amount of time. ex. This determins the pitch of the note.
wave speed- velocity of a wave. ex. This effects how quickly we hear something.
amplitude- displacement from equilibrium to crest. ex. This dtermins how loud we hear things
transverse waves- waves moving up and down as it goes along ex. ocean waves
frequency- How many waves are created/ pass in a certain amount of time. ex. This determins the pitch of the note.
wave speed- velocity of a wave. ex. This effects how quickly we hear something.
amplitude- displacement from equilibrium to crest. ex. This dtermins how loud we hear things
transverse waves- waves moving up and down as it goes along ex. ocean waves
longitudinal wave- waves that compress and expand back and forth as it goes ex. sound waves
Longitudinal Wave:
Reflection
I have always loved music, both playing and listening to it, and am happy that I was able to expand my knowledge on the subject. I learned how one thing can completely change the sound of something, for example if a string on a guitar is slightly too tense, the note will be completely different. Because of that, I had to learn to be very precise with my work. I couldn't just make a good guess about how something should be done, I had to pay attention that I didn't make a mistake on a measurement.
Pits: Unfortunately I was sick for a big portion of this project, so it was hard for me to catch up on what the rest of my group was doing when I returned to school. Another pit was that my group and I spent too much time on aesthetics and that took away some of our time to get some of our instruments in tune.
Peaks: As a group we worked really well together. We were focused and on task the whole time. We communicated well to each other about what we wanted to get done and how we were going to do it.
Pits: Unfortunately I was sick for a big portion of this project, so it was hard for me to catch up on what the rest of my group was doing when I returned to school. Another pit was that my group and I spent too much time on aesthetics and that took away some of our time to get some of our instruments in tune.
Peaks: As a group we worked really well together. We were focused and on task the whole time. We communicated well to each other about what we wanted to get done and how we were going to do it.