Build a Band

Evidence of Work

The build a band project was a project where groups had to create three different instruments that had the ability to play a minimum of one full octave (eight notes). Out of the three, one has to be a string instrument, one percussion, and one a wind instrument. Each person in our group made one of the instruments. I took on the job of building the wind instrument. Not only did we have to build them, we also had to be able to understand and explain the concepts behind waves and how instruments produce music. The first step in building our instruments was deciding on which octave they would play and then measuring out the lengths of either the strings, pipes, etc, so the notes would be correct. This was blueprinted out to scale so we had something to work off of. We then spent a few days on actually assembling and creating our instruments. After that, the instruments were tested and adjusted/tuned to the right note if necessary.

Content

Transverse Waves: The movement of particles is perpendicular to the wave motion. Transverse waves are what light and everything on the electromagnetic spectrum is portrayed as. Transverse waves do not need a medium to travel through, meaning they can move through the vacuum of space. Changes are represented with crests and troughs on the wave.

Longitudinal Waves: The movement of particles is in the same direction as the wave motion. An example of longitudinal waves are sound waves. These waves require a type of medium to travel through. They cannot travel through any vacuum. Changes are represented by expansion and compression in the wave.

Electromagnetic spectrum: The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies and wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. Waves included on the electromagnetic spectrum are radio, micro, x-ray, and more. Frequencies of visible light are also included on this spectrum. Different frequencies of the radiation can cause more harm than others. Ones with higher frequencies have the potential to cause side effects like cancer, while lower ones are harmless.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of waves created or received per second. In other words, vibrations per second. The frequency of a wave can be found using the equation f (frequency)= v (wave speed)/ λ (wave length) or f= 1/T (time). The unit for frequency is Hz or Hertz. The higher the frequency of a sound, the higher the pitch/note will be as well as visa versa.

Wavelength: The wavelength is the distance from the crest to crest of one wave. The equation for wavelength is λ= v/f. the unit of measurement for wavelength is meters. In relation to sound, a longer wave will create a deeper note and a shorter wave will make it longer.

Wave speed: Wave speed is how fast the wave travels. The equation to find the wave speed is v= λf and the unit that represents it is meters per second or m/s. In the air the speed of sound waves is about 340 m/s. Sound waves travel faster through more rigid materials like metal or wood.

Amplitude: Amplitude is the height, magnitude, or volume of a wave.. It has no equation and it is represented with the units m for decibels. Amplitude is just another part of labeling a wave to understand what everything means.

How waves carry information: Waves carry sound frequencies that we hear as words or music. Waves can also carry particles of light that our eyes interpret as color based on the different frequencies. Waves are used to distribute information with a cellphone. the messages are sent as radio waves from one phone to the other.

Wave and Particle Models: The difference between a wave and particle model is that a the first one represents a wave as a line that is actually a wave while a particle model represents a wave as tiny particles going from one place to the other. They can be used interchangeably with one another based on how people better interpret the image.

Radiation Effects: Certain radiation levels can have different or harmful effects on living cells. Lower frequency levels are considered non ionizing, meaning they do not mutate or harm living cells, the most thy can do it seems is heat them up slightly. This is shown through studies of the effects on cell phone radiation. High frequencies/levels of radiation are considered ionizing, or being able to destroy a living cell. Ionizing levels of radiation can cause cancers and other health issues.