Sound waves(a neat experiment)

[Ron Nossaman]

>
> 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. 


You dismissed the fork pretty quickly here with one quoted article. Why do you
assume no piston like up and down motion and rule it out up front? What rules
it out? Strike a fork (preferably one with a long straight round or rectangular
handle) and press the tip of the handle against a tabletop perpendicular to the
top and about an inch from the edge. Note the sound produced. Now strike the
fork and press the handle it in the same spot with the fork horizontal to the
tabletop and the tines (over the edge) one above the other. Note the sound.
Strike the fork again and press the handle in the same spot with the tines side
by side. Note the sound. Repeat three or four times to get average sound
differences between these different positions. What did you observe? What does
this tell you, and how do your observations mesh with your conception of how
the fork works?   

Again, I'm not looking for article quotes or doctorate driven canned
sesquipedalian soliloquies explaining little at vast syllabic expenditure, and
so obtuse and convoluted they are bound to be misinterpreted on some level. I
want your own personal mental processing of what you see, tempered against what
you know of very basic high school science level physics. Stuff most everyone
was taught at some time and already knows about. What are your thoughts,
observations, and explanations of what is physically happening in that fork?
What are the tines doing? What is happening in the body of the fork, including
the handle, that accounts for what the tabletop experiment told you.


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


You're OK, you just skipped over the orientation part. Try the fork test, drink
plenty of fluids, ponder, don't read, and call back when the test results are
in.

Ron N