Demonstrating Beats with

Springs and a Cart

Brian Andersson and Matthew Dykoski, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

T
he topic of beats is often discussed with refer-
ence to sound in high school or introductory
college physics. Beats are easy to hear but a
demonstration of a mechanical analog is rarely, if ever,
presented. This paper describes a straightforward dem-
onstration to produce low-frequency beats in a me-
chanical system. In this system, students can observe
beats and the means by which they are created. This
demonstration can also be adapted to the student labo-
ratory where quantitative measurements are possible.
An object vibrating in a medium produces a dis-
turbance in the pressure of that medium (longitudinal
waves through air, for example).1 When this distur- Fig. 2. Velocity of cart as a function of time for ∆f =
bance reaches the ear, the eardrum vibrates, creating a 0.02 Hz.
signal interpreted by the brain as sound. Beats occur
when the sound wave is produced by two or more ob- sion springs, as shown in Fig. 1. Mechanical drivers,
jects with slightly different frequencies, for example, each controlled by their own function generator, rep-
two musical instruments slightly out of tune.2 To con- resent the sound sources. These drivers send longitudi-
struct a mechanical equivalent, a cart (representing the nal waves along the springs (the medium) causing the
eardrum) is attached between two lightweight exten- cart to oscillate. Applying an analysis similar to that
of sound waves, the beat frequency of the spring/cart
system f beat is:

fbeat = ∆f, (1)

where ∆f is the difference in frequency of the two

function generators.
To construct this demonstration we used a low-fric-
tion PASCO cart (ME-6950) rolling on a 2.2-m hori-
zontal aluminum track. This cart is placed between
two identical lightweight springs, which are connected
Fig. 1. Cart coupled to independently controlled drivers by
springs.
to PASCO mechanical drivers (SF-9324). The drivers

490 DOI: 10.1119/1.2120371 THE PHYSICS TEACHER ◆ Vol. 43, November 2005
themselves are oriented parallel to the track such that
longitudinal waves propagate along the springs. Each
driver is controlled with a high-stability PASCO sig-
nal generator (PI-9587C, range 0.001 Hz to
100 kHz). The entire system is shown in Fig. 1.
To most easily use this system in a demonstration,
first determine the natural frequency of the system.
This is accomplished by allowing the cart to oscillate
while the drivers are off and measuring the period
(approximately 1.2 s, i.e. frequency = 0.83 Hz in our
case). Set both generators to this value and allow the
cart to obtain its maximum amplitude. Next, change
the frequency of one driver slightly (between 0.01 Hz
and 0.03 Hz) and observe the beats.
To collect and display the data from this system,
we used a motion detector and LoggerPro software
purchased from Vernier Software and Technology. To
prevent interference with the apparatus, we placed the
motion detector to one side of the track and aligned
it with the cart. Figure 2 shows the velocity of the cart
as a function of time over 200 s (∆f = 0.02 Hz). From
this data it is straightforward to measure the beat fre-
quency and compare it to the difference in frequency
of the two drivers.
This demonstration showing beats in a mechanical
system is straightforward and easy to use. It demon-
strates the origins of beats in a very visual manner. Its
quantitative nature also makes it a possible laboratory
problem for students.

References
1. P.A. Tipler, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 3rd ed.
(Worth Publishers, New York, 1991), p. 439.
2. Ibid, p. 452.
PACS codes: 01.50M, 01.50P

Brian Andersson received his B.S. in physics and

astrophysics and M.S. in physics from the University of
Minnesota. He has been the manager of the lecture dem-
onstration facility at Minnesota for the past three years.
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of
Minnesota, 116 Church St. SE, Minneapolis, MN
55455; banders@physics.umn.edu

Matthew Dykoski is a former student assistant.

THE PHYSICS TEACHER ◆ Vol. 43, November 2005 491