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Teaching methods
• Discussion of what is meant by noise.
• Demonstration to determine the range of hearing in humans.
• Demonstration of pitch, loudness and quality for different musical instruments.
Expected outcomes
• Students able to describe what is meant by noise.
• Students able to state the normal frequency range of hearing in humans.
• Students able to explain the meaning of pitch, loudness and quality in the context of sound.
1 Explain to students that we hear different frequencies of sound waves as sounds of different pitch. We
can hear a range of frequencies, generally from about 20 Hz to about 20 kHz (20 000 Hz). The upper limit
of hearing decreases rapidly with age; only very young children are able to hear the highest frequency
sounds.
2 Connect a microphone to an oscilloscope. Hold a vibrating tuning fork close to the microphone. Explain
that the oscilloscope screen shows a transverse wave with the same frequency as the longitudinal sound
wave produced by the tuning fork.
Compare the waveforms produced when a low-pitched tuning fork and a high-pitched tuning fork are
made to vibrate close to the microphone.
If an oscilloscope is not available sketch a low-frequency wave and a high-frequency wave for
students to compare.
4 Produce a note, close to the microphone, on a tuning fork. A tuning fork produces a pure note of only
one frequency. Ask students to look at the waveform.
Play the same note on different instruments and ask students to look at the waveforms.
Other instruments produce additional frequencies, called overtones, at the same time to give a different
waveform and so a different sound. We say that different instruments produce notes of different quality.
If an oscilloscope is not available sketch different waveforms for students to compare.
Assessment
The following questions could be used as the basis of a class discussion or as an exercise to test
understanding.
1 Describe the difference between music and noise.
2 What does the pitch of a note depend on?
3 What does the loudness of a note depend on?
4 Why does the same note sound different when played on different instruments?
5 Sketch the waveform that might be seen on an oscilloscope connected to a microphone when a tuning
fork is sounded nearby. If the tuning fork is replaced by one with twice the frequency sketch the new
waveform.