Making Music with Glasses of Water
Grade Level: 4
Strand: Understanding Matter and Energy
Topic: Light and Sound
Specific Expectations:
2. Developing Investigation and Communication Skills
2.3 Investigate the basic properties of sound. (e.g., conduct experiments to show that
sound travels, that sound can be absorbed or reflected, that sound can be modified
[pitch, volume], that there is a relationship between vibrations and sound)
3. Understanding Basic Concepts
3.4 Describe properties of sound, including the following: sound travels; sound can be
absorbed or reflected and can be modified. (e.g., pitch, loudness)
3.5 Explain how vibrations cause sound.
Materials
* 5 or more drinking glasses or glass bottles
* Water
* Wooden stick such as a pencil
Procedure
1. Line the glasses up next to each other and fill them with different amounts of water.
The first should have just a little water while the last should almost full, the ones in
between should have slightly more than the last.
2. Hit the glass with the least amount of water and observe the sound, then hit the
glass with the most water, which makes the higher sound?
3. Hit the other glasses and see what noise they make, see if you can get a tune going
by hitting the glasses in a certain order.
Explanation of the Science Concept:
Each of the glasses will have a different tone when hit with the pencil, the glass with
the most water will have the lowest tone and pitch, while the glass with the least water
will have the highest. Small vibrations are made when you hit the glass, this creates
sound waves which travel through the water. More water means slower vibrations and
a deeper tone. The water dampens the vibrations, therefore more water means fewer
vibrations, which is why we hear the lower pitch. Less water allows more vibrations,
so the bottle vibrates faster which causes the higher pitch. Our experiment concludes
that sound is created by vibrations. The number of times an object vibrates is called
frequency. As the frequency increases, the pitch of the sound is higher.
Optional Experiment:
If you have 6 or 8 plastic water bottles you can make a simple xylophone and tap out
the basic tunes like “Rain, rain, go away” or "Oh Susannah", as seen on the website
http://www.philtulga.com/water.html
References:
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/makemusic.html
http://fun.families.com/blog/making-music-with-water-and-bottles
http://www.philtulga.com/water.html
Alise Agopian & James Mantelos