Sound waves(a neat experiment)

Richard Brekne Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no
Thu, 17 Jan 2002 21:31:12 +0100


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JIMRPT@AOL.COM wrote:

> In a message dated 17/01/02 11:47:05 AM, RNossaman@KSCABLE.com writes:
>
> <<  Let's
> hear your thinking based entirely on something akin to logic, mechanics,
> science and physics, rather than a sideline comparison of other peoples
> thoughts. Put yourself on the line this time. I'd like to hear what you think.
>  >>
>
>  Dis ain't dat hard Ron.............
>  The fork transfers energy to the soundboard and the soundboard expresses
> that energy in the 'best' way it can. While there might be a little side to
> side motion of the assembly......that is the path of most resistance....The
> path of least resisitance to the energy transmitted by the fork would be an
> up/down movement of the board..........so although the energy would be
> traveling in all directions the most evidence of such would be up/down as
> opposed to any other direction.................
> Huh?
> Jim Bryant (FL)

Im not sure I have a problem with this explanation. Remembering that the end of
the fork is open (i.e. the hole holding it goes all the way through the board).
Any up and down piston like motion is going to be difficult to explain methinks.
But that the board itself most easily vibrates in this bending transverse wave I
can buy.

My problem with all this is what gets the board moving in the first place. It
seems to me that Ron is saying that its just some force that yanks the damned
thing around, where as I am bogged down on the idea that whatever force is exerted
creates a wave front that propagates through all three dimensions of the panel and
that the eventual vibration seen in the panel is the reaction that the panel has
to said wave front. Beyond that I seem to be more in agreement with On then with
JD at the moment.

Why do I insist on the wave front being the direct source of vibration in the
panel. Well, for a couple reasons. The speed of transverse bending waves is
dispersive.... that is to say that the wave velocity is frequency dependent. Yet
we operate with a constant when we use the formula for the speed of sound through
wood. That says to me that that formula is referring to a compression wave or
perhaps some form of quasi longitudinal wave, as in Rayleigh surface waves for
example. Also I cant escape the fact that the panel has three dimensions, and any
force acting upon that simply has to propagate though all three. I don't see this
is in conflict with the 2 dimensionalilty of the panel as a vibrating plate.

A tuning fork is a so called linear quadrupole source, or a bar clamped in the
middle whose ends vibrate in opposite phase, and as such the output at the base is
the same for a cylinder in which there is a simultaneous contraction along the
vertical axis as there is expansion (this would mean elongation) along the
horizontal, and of course the opposite way around on the other half of the wave.
This says to me (and I might be totally misunderstanding this) and I will sort of
over simplify for the sake of illustration, that the bottom alternates pumping up
and down, while the sides alternate pumping in and out, in a fashion which results
in two waves, one at 12 and 6, followed by one at 3 and 9 o'clock . I see nothing
transverse in this action at all.  Take a look at Dan Russell's animated
illustrations and watch single points moving back and forth at
http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/forkanim/latquad.gif

So given this action by the tuning fork, mounted as it I described, there is no
piston like up and down motion exerted on the panel as far as I can see. Only only
a piston like out and in motion exerted alternately on the north/south then
east/west sides of the hole.

That this should send a wave front traveling directly outwards and parallel to the
plane of the panel in a non dispersive fashion which results in a transverse like
action on the surface ala the quasi longitudinal wave types mentioned above seems
to me a quite plausible explanation. That the panel gets further stimulated to
vibrate in a more pure bending transverse fashion in addition is also covered in
the texts before me. though I have a bit of a chunker figuring out the
consequences of the dispersive characteristics of this type of wave relative to
how sound is produced.. but then I suppose its highly possible I have totally
misunderstood everything I have read so far so....well.... grin... I aint too
worried about it. I suppose I will learn in the end :)

The variation of the loudness of the system resulting from bending this panel
between the knees is the result of altering the stiffness of this little panel and
thereby its acoustic impedance... ?? At some point an optimal for sound production
is reached.

Ok... thats my first shot at it... I await the now er.... acoustumed
slaughter...hehe.

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no
http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html


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