Intro to Sound (3/5 - 3/9)

https://goo.gl/fXUokg

Summary:

     Sound is the vibration of air around a certain medium such as gas, liquid, solid, etc. When a sound is produced, it pushes the air forwards, creating something similar to the domino effect. Besides air, sound can also move in other mediums such as liquids or solids. It can actually move faster in these environments due to the fact that liquids and gases are more dense and can easily be pushed by sound. Think about it, which set of dominoes would be easier to knock over? Ones that are spread apart or ones that are more tightly compacted together? Sound can be observed through the ears of many organisms. Sound waves go through ears and are then compressed due to the tight space. The vibrations then hit the ear drum, where the sound is then processed by the brain. Hearing sound is important due to the fact that it allows for communication and awareness of surroundings.

SP2: Developing and Using Models:

     This week I started modeling instruments in order to understand how sound works. For the project, we were to build an instrument that had percussion, string and wind. During the week, we mainly focused on how wind works. In order to do so, we did a sound lab that focused on how sound differed based on the volume in a glass bottle and the different inputs of sound. My group and I discovered that higher pitches were produced by blowing into a full bottle while the opposite was shown to occur from hitting it. Subsequently, we learned that this was the case since when blowing into a bottle, the water allowed for less travel for the sound waves, making a higher pitch and the more water in a bottle, the slower the vibration upon hitting it. I applied this knowledge onto how wind works by changing the method of making the wind. To make the wind instrument component, I considered using a different type of material and perhaps varying volumes of liquids within.