Question

2) Define a “standing wave”.

3) What is “resonance”? How will we know when we are at resonance in this experiment? Give another example of a resonance phenomenon.

4) Why would this experiment not work very well with a 60Hz tuning fork?

Answer 1

1) In short, A vibration of a system in which some particular points remain fixed while others between them vibrate with the maximum amplitude.

A standing wave pattern is a vibrational pattern created within a medium when the vibrational frequency of the source causes reflected waves from one end of the medium to interfere with incident waves from the source. This interference occurs in such a manner that specific points along the medium appear to be standing still. Because the observed wave pattern is characterized by points that appear to be standing still, the pattern is often called a standing wave pattern.

2) Resonance is a phenomenon in which a vibrating system or external force drives another system to oscillate with greater amplitude at specific frequencies.

You will know its resonance when the amplitude reaches its maximum. That is to say if you increase or decrease the frequency, amplitude will come down/ decrease.

A familiar example is a playground swing, which acts as a pendulum. Pushing a person in a swing in time with the natural interval of the swing (its resonant frequency) makes the swing go higher and higher (maximum amplitude), while attempts to push the swing at a faster or slower tempo produce smaller arcs. This is because the energy the swing absorbs is maximized when the pushes match the swing's natural oscillations.

3) Don’t know what the experiment is.