Acoustics Topic

Anatomical model of the human ear with removable sections to show the mechanical chain from sound collection (outer ear) through impedance matching and amplification (middle ear) to frequency analysis (cochlea). …

Demonstrates the range of human hearing by sweeping from 20 kHz downward. Students raise their hands when they hear the tone, vividly showing that high-frequency hearing declines with age — …

Galton's whistle produces very high-frequency sound at or above the limit of human hearing. Students discover that sound exists beyond audible perception -- younger audience members typically hear it while …

Sensitive flame burners produce flames that flicker visibly when exposed to high-frequency sound, providing direct visual evidence that sound carries energy. Historically, these flames served as detectors in "optical" experiments …

Demonstrates the logarithmic decibel scale for sound intensity. Students discover that each 10 dB increase requires a tenfold increase in intensity, providing an intuitive introduction to logarithmic measurement scales.

Demonstrates acoustic resonance by coupling tuning forks to wooden boxes of matching resonant frequency. Students hear dramatic amplification when a fork matches its box, illustrating how cavity geometry determines resonant …

Demonstrates frequency-selective acoustic resonance. Three tuning forks (C-128, C-256, C-512 Hz) are held near a blown glass Helmholtz resonator; the C-256 fork produces a dramatically louder response, illustrating how a …

Visualizes sound as waveforms on an oscilloscope. Students see the connection between pitch and frequency, loudness and amplitude, and timbre and waveform shape by comparing tuning forks, voices, and instruments …