Subject Area
Physics
Age or Grade
High School
Estimated Length 45 minutes
Prerequisite
The student should understand the basic shape of a wave as
knowledge/skills well as its basic properties such as wavelength and frequency.
Description of
New Content
Goals
Materials Needed
Students will use musical instruments to explore the
relationship between wavelength, frequency, and pitch. They
should also be comfortable using the word amplitude to
describe the volume of a note.
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Students will use the words wavelength, frequency, and
pitch to describe the sounds of musical instruments.
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Guitar
Reed pipes
Tuning forks
Opener – Students should discuss why a cello plays notes
lower than a violin.
Procedure
Development – Use the different instruments to
demonstrate how a different wavelength effects the frequency
and pitch of an instrument. For example, for the guitar, play
different notes on the same string and discuss how a longer
wavelength corresponds to a lower frequency and a lower
pitch. Also explain that amplitude is the volume of the note
and let the students play notes of different wavelength and
amplitude on the instrument.
Closure -. Have students write a sentence, using the words
wavelength, frequency, and pitch, to describe the sound of one
of the instruments that they heard.
Evaluation
Ask students to describe how they would use a rubber band to
produce a high and low pitch.
Extensions
Draw waves corresponding to the different pitches and
amplitudes as you demonstrate the instruments.
References