Name:______Date: ______
General Physics
Mini Lab; How can sound energy be observed?
Materials: tuning fork, string, large plastic cup, paper, pencil and water
Directions:
1. Strike the tuning fork against the heel of your shoe. Place your thumbnail against the tuning fork. What happens?
______
2. Repeat step 1. This time touch the tuning fork to the end of your nose. What happens?
______
3. Tie the pencil to a piece of string. Hold the pencil so that it is hanging from the string. Strike the tuning fork against your heel. Touch the tuning fork to the pencil. What happens?
______
4. Place water in the cup. Strike the tuning fork against the heel of your shoe. Place the tuning fork at the surface of the water. What happens?
______
Questions:
1. Was any sound produced by the tuning fork? ______How do you know?
______
2. What happened when you touched the tuning fork to your nose? ______
3. What happened when you touched the tuning fork to the pencil? ______
4. What happened when you touched the surface of the water with the tuning fork?
______
5. What kind of energy was produced by the sound? ______
How do you know? ______
Below is a sound wave; label its parts.
Write true if the answer is true. If the statement is false, change the underlined word to make the statement true.
______1. Sound waves are transverse waves.
______2. Compressions and rarefactions move in the same directions as a sound wave.
______3. A substance through which sound waves can travel is a vacuum.
______4. Sound waves cannot travel through gases, liquids and solids.
______5. Sound waves do not need a medium through which to travel.
______6. Particles of air in a sound wave move up and down.
______7. Astronauts cannot hear sounds on the moon.
______8. There is air on the moon.
Fill in each blank with the word that fits best. Not all terms are used.
compression energy intensity longitudinal molecules
rarefaction transverse
Sound is a form of ______. It travels in ______waves. The area of closely packed ______is called the ______. Molecules are spread apart in the ______.
Which statement is more likely to be true?
A. ______A tuning fork can produce sounds of many pitches.
B. ______A tuning fork can produce wounds of many intensities.
Match the term in column A to its description in column B.
A B
1. _____ intensity a. tightly packed molecules
2._____ rarefaction b. loudness
3._____compression c. molecules spread apart
4._____pitch d. only one pitch
5._____tuning fork e. highs and lows