Using the properties of sound waves, we’ll be able to actually see sound waves when we aim a flashlight at a drum head and pick up the waves on a nearby wall. This is a really neat experiment to do in the dark with your favorite music!
Here’s what you need:
- empty soup can
- balloon
- small mirror
- tape
- scissors
- hot glue gun
- laser or flashlight
You will be adjusting the length of string of a pendulum until you get a pendulum that has a frequency of .5 Hz, 1 Hz and 2 Hz. Remember, a Hz is one vibration (or in this case swing) per second. So .5 Hz would be half a swing per second (swing one way but not back to the start). 1 Hz would be one full swing per second. Lastly, 2 Hz would be two swings per second. A swing is the same as a vibration so the pendulum must move away from where you dropped it and then swing back to where it began for it to be one full swing/vibration.