Ideas for Quarter 1 Experiventure
Sound:
(Most involve using sound probe to look at waveform (perhaps Fourier analyze frequency components=*):
How does amplitude of sound from a function generator affect the pitch (frequency) of the sound?
Does pitch (frequency) affect how loud a person thinks a sound is (amplitude)? (perception experiment)
How much can the amplitude of a sound be increased by using a cone to funnel sound? (How does shape of cone affect final amplitude?)
How does creating sounds with different ratios of frequencies affect how pleasant or irritating the sound is to different people? (Must use sound generator program to be able to pick fundamental frequencies.)
*How does a recording of an instrument versus a real instrument affect the shape of the waveform (amplitude, frequency, etc.)? (Ideal to use Fourier analyzer to see higher harmonics drop out.)
*How does a digital answering machine recording affect the waveform of your voice? (again, Fourier analyzer would be useful.)
How does the gender affect the range of typical frequencies of voices? (Make measurements on waveform while having subject say same long word “Ahhhhhh” or “Ooooooo”)
(For choir members) How does sitting or standing affect the tone of your singing? (i.e. does it have a significant effect with a range of notes, or is it more pronounced at high or low pitches?)
How do musical scales and intervals (thirds, fifths, octaves) relate to the ratio of frequencies?
How does multiple people singing together affect the loudness (amplitude) of a sound? (I.e. does it get twice as loud? I don’t think it does!)
How does gender affect the range of frequencies a person can hear?
How does the shape of a bottle (or other resonance box) affect the pitch (frequency) of a sound? (i.e. use a bottle with different levels of water and blow over the top)
How does the length of an instrument (trombone,etc.) affect the frequency (pitch) of its note?
How does bending sound around corners affect its amplitude (loudness)? (i.e. measure sound around corner, then through a tube around a corner; try tubes of different materials?
How does the material used for soundproofing affect how much the amplitude of a sound decreases? (i.e. put a block of different materials between a speaker and a microphone--try different frequencies, as well.)
How can you make an effective mechanical model of sounds? (more of a design project)
Pendula / Resonance:
How does the length of a pendulum affect its period, frequency?
How does the amplitude of a pendulum swing affect its period, frequency? (Here, I think a great experiment would be to go beyond the small angle SHM regime to then show how period DOES depend on initial amplitude!)
How does the weight of the bob affect the period, frequency? (it doesn’t!)
[Above three questions (and any other pendulum questions) can also be replaced by a solid rod pendulum--how do above conclusions change when bob is replaced by solid rod?]
How can you make a mechanical device to show that a pendulum behaves as a “wave”? (another engineering project)
How can you get the Kendall Bells (in the T station) to play two different notes? (There are two different length pendula, so you must drive the handle at two different frequencies to cause them each to hit the bells--I’ve noticed that no one knows how to do this!!!)
Record real world examples of repetitive motion, and record their characteristics, frequency (period), amplitude, and/or wavelength. (Some ideas: Frequency of T trains, stoplights, naturally occurring pendula, sunrise/sunset , etc.)
How does the frequency affect the wavelength of a standing wave on a string as more nodes are created? (must know something about wave speed here, or at least get that they have an inverse relationship and multiply to the same number--i.e. wave speed) An extension would be to see how tension affects this (i.e makes wave speed different)
How does the wavelength and frequency of waves on a beach relate to the speed of a wave? (i.e. does the wave speed depend on temperature, or differ day to day? This would be a great exercise to tell the difference between period (time in between when waves hit your legs) and wavelength (size of waves measured--approximately--with ruler)
How does propagating waves through different media (big or smaller slinky) affect their transmission /reflection properties? (i.e what are the rules for reflection, transmission)
Light:
How does the shape of a lens affect the configuration needed to make an image of an illuminated slide?
How does material affect how much light bends as it passes through?
How does the shape of a lens affect the arrangement when an object (like a candle) looks in best focus to you?
How can you make an effective telescope with two lenses?
How does reflecting light affect its intensity? (need intensity meter for this and a flashlight)
How does color of a printed word affect ability to remember it? (perception experiment about which colors people notice most)
(Not sure what else we are doing in the light curriculum--once this is confirmed, we should be able to come up with some more ideas…)