To design my instrument, I first was assigned the task of creating a wind instrument. From there, I brainstormed different ways of creating an instument that took advantage of moving air to make noise. once I decided on a flute design as my best bet, I created a roughly scaled blueprint for my flute. From there, I went to creating a prototype. I prcisely measured out the proportions to achieve different notes as listed on https://pages.mtu.edu/~suits/fingers.html. I then constructed the prototype instrument, complete with eight notes in a major scale, but the full capabilities of the instrument have not yet been tested. There are several steps that have been observed, like making thee holes line up and making it look cleaner overall, that would have improved upon the prototype so that I could have created a superior final instrument. However, I did not get this opportunity, as my work time was cut short, along with everyone else in my class, because of unforseen circumstances that forced us to remain at our own homes for an extended period of time. Nonetheless, I have created a functional instrument which is limited only by the skill of the user.

Content

Frequency

Frequency is the number of times a vibration, or wave, passes by a single point every second. It can be found using the formula f=V/ʎ, with f of course bing frequency, V being the wave speed, and ʎ as the variable for wavelength. This concept is used to determine the pitch of a sound, in the case of longitudinal waves, which makes it useful for describing notes in a more scientific and accurate way. For example, instead of saying, "Notes C, E, and G," which can be inconsistent because of different musical keys and octave, one could say, "Frequencies 261.63, 329.63, and 392," which would never be misinterpreted by someone who understands the concept of frequencies. Frequency is measured in Hertz, which are equivelent to watts/second. Here is a list of the frequencies in an F major scale, which is the scale my flute uses:

F_{4..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}349.23

G_{4..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}392.00

A_{4..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}440.00

B^b_{4 ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}466.16

C_{5..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}523.25

D_{5..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}587.33

E_{5..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}659.25

F_{5..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}698.46

Wavelength

This is the minimum distance between two crests in a wave. It can be found using a variation of the previous formula: ʎ=V/f. This concept goes hand in hand with the previous concept, as they are inversely proportional. Wavelength is measured in metersas it is a physical distance between two crests of a wave. This concept can also be used to determine a sound or wave's pitch, but it is used less often than Frequency for doing so, as frequency at least gives the illusion of being proportional. It is useful for the same reasons as frequency, and on can easily be translated into the other. Here is a list of the wavelengths for my flute's F major scale:

F_{4..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}98.79

G_{4..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}88.01

A_{4..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}78.41

B^b_{4 ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}74.01

C_{5..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}65.93

D_{5..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}58.74

E_{5..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}52.33

F_{5..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................}49.39

Wave Speed

This is how fast a wave travels. The equation to find the speed of a wave is also a modification if the previous concept. The formula is V=ʎ/f. the variable V represents the wave speed. It is proportional to frequency and inversely proportional to wave length. Most of the time, wave speed does not vary much and usually depends on the altitude and medium density. At sea level, wave speed of sound wave is about 345 m/s. This is the number I used in my calculations throughot this project to find verious frequencies and wavelengths.

Amplitude

Simply put, amplitude is how powerful a wave is. It is measured by the distance from the midline of the wave to the top of the crest or the bottom of the trough. In terms of sound wave, amplitude determines how loud a sound wave is. The intensity of a wave can by found by squaring the amplitude. In instruments powered by wind, amplitude can be made greater by simply blowing harder. In percussion instruments, hitting the instrument harder will cause more energy to be bouncing back and forth at the same rate that is would if it was struck lightly, because of its natural frequency, which will cause more enerrgy to move back and forth. A stringed insrument works similarly. A harder pluck will cause the string to muve up und down much faster, creating more energy.

Transverse Wave

A transverse wave is one that causes particles to move in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the energy itself. These kinds of wave don't need a medium to travel throughin order to move. Transverse waves include everything ion the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes visible light, UV light, Infrared light, and microwaves. Here is a diagram of a typical transverse wave:

Longitudinal Waves

A longitudinal wave is one that causes particles to move in a direction parallel to the movement of the energy itself. However, these particles do not travel with the wave for as long as the wave travels. Insted, particles that transfer the wave's energy compress and rarify as the wave's energy moves through them. In doing this, the particles generally remain in the same place that they started. Longitudinal waves do require a medium to be ble to travel anywhere. Without consistent particles for the wave to move through, th compression and rarification that allows these waves to mve would not be possible. Longitudinal waves include sounds and radio waves. Here is an interpretation of a longitudinal wave in which particles are represented by vertical lines.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum covers transverse waves, like visible light, UV light and IR light. It includes electromagnetic waves from below one hertz to above 10^25 hertz. Almost all electromagnetic waves fall into one of the bands of the spectrum, including the types of light listed above, along with gamma rays, x-rays, microwaves, and ultra-low frequency waves.

Reflection

I think that I did well in this project at collaboration. Because of the quarantine, I was not able to write my instrument physically with my team mates. However, we overcame this by collaborating with each other to create detailed descriptions of all of our instruments. I think I also did well in critical thinking. When I was forced to stay home for an unknown amount of time, I decided to bring by instrument with me. Then, using a minimal amount of actual construction materials, I was able to complete my instrument to a level that a full scale was somewhat playable. Unfortunately, I think that during this project, I struggled with cultural compotence. Towards the beginning of the pandemic, I failed to see why a quarantine was nessecary, and I feel that I tool advantage of my time away from school, which I hope to imrove on during the next project. I think that I also would like to improve on conscientious learning. Going on what I just said previously, I think that I originally took the quarantine for granted and did not manage my time wisely. I held off on some parts of this project and sometimes took entire days to complete it, despite the lack of necessity for that.