Answers to Tutorial No 3,

Semester 2, 2013/14
1. A string is vibrating with 4 antinodes between its
two ends at a frequency of 1,200 Hz. A second string
which has a length of 150 cm is vibrating at a fre-
quency of 960 Hz with 6 antinodes between its two
ends. What is the length of the rst string vibrat-
ing at 1,200 Hz, and what is the distance between
its adjacent nodes? If a third string which is also
vibrating at a frequency of 960 Hz has 8 antinodes,
what is its length? (Assume that the three strings
are similar in all respects except length.)
Answer: Since the rst string has 4 antinodes, it
must be at its 4th harmonic, and its fundamental
frequency is hence given by 1,200 Hz divided by 4
i.e. 300 Hz. The second string has a length of 150
cm, and since it has 6 antinodes, it is at its 6th har-
monic and hence its fundamental frequency is equal
to 960 Hz divided by 6 i.e. 160 Hz. The length of
the rst string thus equal to 150 cm times
160
300
i.e. 80
cm. The third string has 8 antinodes and is thus at
its 8th harmonic, and its fundamental frequency is
equal to 960 Hz divided by 8 i.e. 120 Hz. Its length
is thus equal to (compared with the rst string) 80
cm times
300
120
i.e. 200 cm. As it is at its 8th harmonic,
the nodes are separated by one-eighth of the length
of the string i.e. by a distance of 25 cm.
2. A log is drifting lengthwise along the surface of the
sea such that it is moving in the same direction and
speed as the waves are moving on the surface of the
sea. The sea waves are moving at a speed of 0.3
metres per second, and it can be seen that 5 com-
plete wavelengths of the waves have exactly the same
length as the full length of the log. If the sea waves
have a frequency of 0.5 Hz, what is the length of the
log? If the wavelength of the waves increases such
that 4 wavelengths instead of 5 are the same length
as that of the log, what would be the frequency of
the waves, assuming that the speed of the waves and
the log remains the same?
Answer: If the speed of the waves is 0.3 metre per
second, and their frequency is 0.5 Hz, the wavelength
of the waves must be given by 0.3 metre per second
divided by 0.5 Hz i.e. 0.6 metres. Therefore the
length of the log must be equal to 5 wavelengths or
5 times 0.6 metres i.e. 3 metres. If the wavelength of
the waves increases such that 4 wavelengths t into
3 metres, the wavelength will be equal to 3 metres
divided by 4 i.e. 0.75 metres. The frequency of the
waves is now equal to 0.3 metres per second divided
by 0.75 metres i.e. 0.4 Hz.
3. A string which is vibrating with 4 antinodes between
its two ends produces beats of 10 Hz on combining
with the note from an open pipe vibrating with 5
nodes between its two ends. If the string is 93 cm
long, and then is shortened slightly, the beat fre-
quency decreases (without passing through 0 Hz).
If the fundamental frequency of the open pipe is 150
Hz, what is the fundamental frequency of the string?
If the string is shortened from 93 cm to 92.5 cm,
calculate the beat frequency between the string and
the open pipe, if the beats are produced by the same
harmonics of the string and the open pipe as be-
fore. What is the beat frequency if the open pipe is
lengthened by 25%, assuming the string is still 92.5
cm long? (Give the answers for beat frequency to
just one decimal place.)
Answer: If the string has 4 antinodes it is thus at
its 4th harmonic frequency, while since the open pipe
has 5 nodes, it is thus at its 5th harmonic frequency.
The frequency of the open pipe is thus equal to 150
Hz times 5 i.e. 750 Hz, and since the beats have
a frequency of 10 Hz, the frequency of the string is
either 750 Hz plus 10 Hz i.e. 760 Hz, or 750 Hz mi-
nus 10 Hz i.e. 740 Hz. When the string is slightly
shortened, its frequency increases, and if the beat
frequency decreases this means that the string fre-
quency is moving closer to 750 Hz. Therefore the
strings frequency must have been less than 750 Hz
i.e. it must have been at 740 Hz. The fundamental
frequency of the string is hence given by 740 Hz di-
vided by 4 i.e. 185 Hz. When the string is shortened
from 93 cm to 92.5 cm, its fundamental frequency
will be equal to 185 Hz times
93
92.5
i.e. 186 Hz. The
4th harmonic frequency of the string is then given
by 186 Hz times 4 i.e. 744 Hz, which means that
the beat frequency will become 750 Hz minus 744
Hz i.e. 6 Hz. If the open pipe is lengthened by 25%,
its frequency will decrease to 750 Hz times
100
125
i.e.
600 Hz, and the beat frequency will be given by 744
Hz minus 600 Hz i.e. 144 Hz.
4. A cellist is tuning her cellos A string using an elec-
tronic tuner which emits a note with a frequency of
220 Hz. On bowing the A string of her cello, the
cellist hears beats of 8 Hz between the electronic
tuners 220 Hz note and the note from the A string.
On gradually tightening the A string of her cello,
she hears the beat frequency gradually decreasing
(without passing through 0 Hz) to 5 Hz. Calculate
the frequencies of the note produced by the cellos A
string when the beat frequencies were 8 Hz and 5 Hz
respectively. What should the cellist do to change
the tension of the cellos A string so that the fre-
quency of the A string becomes as close as possible
to 220 Hz?
Answer: Since the beat frequency was 8 Hz, this
means that the frequency of the A strings note was
either equal to 220 Hz minus 8 Hz i.e. 212 Hz, or
220 Hz plus 8 Hz i.e. 228 Hz. On tightening the
A string, its frequency should have increased, and
therefore since the beat frequency then decreased
to 5 Hz, the frequency of the A strings note must
have come closer to 220 Hz. This means that the A
strings frequency was lower than 220 Hz when the
beat frequency was equal to 8 Hz and hence the A
strings frequency was equal to 212 Hz. When the
beat frequency decreased to 5 Hz, the A strings fre-
quency must hence have increased to 215 Hz. For
the cellist to bring the frequency of the cellos A
string as close to 220 Hz as possible, she should grad-
ually tighten the string even more so that the beat
frequency gradually decreases to 0 Hz, when the fre-
quency of the cellos A string will be equal to the
frequency of the note from the electronic tuner i.e.
220 Hz.
5. One theory of consonance or dissonance between two
musical notes believes that this is principally deter-
mined by the harmonics of the two notes i.e. the de-
gree of consonance between the two notes depends
on how many harmonics of one note coincide with
the harmonics of the other note. Using this theory,
compare the consonance of a 240 Hz note with a
note which is higher by each of the following inter-
vals. (You need only consider the rst 15 harmonics
of the 240 Hz note for the comparison.)
(a) A Just second.
(b) A Just third.
(c) A Just fth.
(d) A Just sixth.
Answer: The rst 15 harmonics of the 240 Hz note
are: 240 Hz, 480 Hz, 720 Hz, 960 Hz, 1,200 Hz, 1,440
Hz, 1,680 Hz, 1,920 Hz, 2,160 Hz, 2,400 Hz, 2,640
Hz, 2,880 Hz, 3,120 Hz, 3,360 Hz, and 3,600 Hz. By
listing all the harmonics of the higher note of each of
the given intervals with which we want to compare,
we show in bold the harmonics which coincide with
a harmonic of the 240 Hz note:
(a) The Just seconds notes fundamental frequency
is 240 Hz times
9
8
i.e. 270 Hz. Harmonics: 270
Hz, 540 Hz, 810 Hz, 1,080 Hz, 1,350 Hz, 1,620 Hz,
1,890 Hz, 2,160 Hz, 2,430 Hz, 2,700 Hz, 2,970
Hz, 3,240 Hz, and 3,510 Hz.
(b) The Just thirds notes fundamental frequency is
240 Hz times
5
4
i.e. 300 Hz. Harmonics: 300 Hz,
600 Hz, 900 Hz, 1,200 Hz, 1,500 Hz, 1,800 Hz,
2,100 Hz, 2,400 Hz, 2,700 Hz, 3,000 Hz, 3,300
Hz, 3,600 Hz, 3,900 Hz.
(c) The Just fths notes fundamental frequency is
240 Hz times
3
2
i.e. 360 Hz. Harmonics: 360 Hz,
720 Hz, 1,080 Hz, 1,440 Hz, 1,800 Hz, 2,160
Hz, 2,520 Hz, 2,880 Hz, 3,240 Hz, and 3,600
Hz.
(d) The Just sixths notes fundamental frequency is
240 Hz times
5
3
i.e. 400 Hz. Harmonics: 400 Hz,
800 Hz, 1,200 Hz, 1,600 Hz, 2,000 Hz, 2,400
Hz, 2,800 Hz, 3,200 Hz, 3,600 Hz.
The Just fth is the most consonant with ve har-
monics coinciding. The Just third and Just sixth are
equally consonant with three harmonics coinciding.
The Just second is the least consonant, with only
one harmonic coinciding.