Tutorial No 3, Semester 2,

2014/15
1. A string which is 80 cm long is vibrating at a frequency of 1,500 Hz with 5 antinodes between its two
ends. A second string which is 100 cm long is vibrating at a frequency of 1,920 Hz. How many nodes
does the second string have between its two ends, and
what is the distance between its adjacent nodes? A
third string is vibrating at a frequency of 3,360 Hz
with 7 antinodes. What is the length of the third
string? (Assume that the three strings are similar in
all respects except length.)
2. A sailing boat is moving on the surface of the sea
in the same direction and with the same speed as
the sea waves which are moving on the sea surface.
The speed of the sea waves is 0.9 metres per second,
and the length of the sailing boat is equal to the
length of 10 complete wavelengths of the sea waves.
If the frequency of the sea waves is 1.2 Hz, what
is the length of the sailing boat? If the speed of
the sea waves increases and the frequency of the sea
waves remains the same, and it is observed that 7.5
wavelengths of the sea waves are equal to the length
of the sailing boat, what is the increased speed of
the sea waves?
3. Beats of frequency 6 Hz are heard when the note
from a vibrating string combines with the note from
an open pipe vibrating with 6 nodes between its two

ends. The string is 84 cm long and has 4 antinodes between its two ends. When the string is shortened slightly, the beat frequency decreases (without
passing through 0 Hz). What is the fundamental frequency of the string if the open pipe has a fundamental frequency of 165 Hz? Assuming that the beats
are produced by the same harmonics of the string
and the open pipe as before, if the string is shortened from 84 cm to 82 cm, what would the beat
frequency be? If the open pipe is then lengthened
by 10% what would the beat frequency be, assuming
that the string is still 82 cm long?
4. A cellist is tuning the A string of a cello using an
electronic tuner which is sounding a note with a frequency of 220 Hz, and beats of 9 Hz are produced
when the note from her cellos A string combines
with the note from the electronic tuner. On gradually tightening the A string of her cello, the beat frequency gradually decreases (without passing through
0 Hz) to 5 Hz. Determine the frequencies of the note
produced by the cellos A string when the beat frequencies were 9 Hz and 5 Hz respectively Explain
what the cellist should do to make the frequency of
the A string come as close as possible to 220 Hz.
5. One theory of consonance or dissonance states that
the degree of consonance between any two notes depends on the number of harmonics of one note coinciding with the harmonics of the other note. Show
how this theory can be used to compare the consonance of a 160 Hz note with another note which is

higher by each of the following intervals. (You need

only consider the first 15 harmonics of the 160 Hz
note for the comparison.)
(a) A Just second.
(b) A Just third.
(c) A Just fifth.
(d) A Just seventh.