November 25, 2008

To start off today's class we discussed our "Bell-Ringer" projects and all of our questions were answered. Dr. E, your husband is in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope he feels better soon!

Then, we did a lab called "The Tuning Fork." I enjoyed this lab because it was a good visual aid that helped me to actually see the vibrations that create sound. We dipped the ends of the tuning fork into a cup of water and found that just as the tips of the tuning fork hit the water, the water splatted out of the cup. We also touched the ends of the tuning fork to the edge of a piece of paper, and it made the paper ripple and make a "buzzing" sound. Then we touched the ends of the tuning fork to our cheeks to feel the vibrations. Finally we heald the tuning fork to a ping pong ball that was hanging on a string. The vibrations made the ping pong ball bounce.

The next part of the lab was taking a hollow tube and have one person hold the tuning fork at one end while the other person listens at the other end. You can hear a high pitched noise from the vibrations of the tuning fork.

Overall this was a great aid to help the class understand the material covered in the chapters!