Chapter 15, Problem 52A

To determine

To Explain:The reason due to which musical instruments do not sound like tuning forks.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

Each vibrating body has its characteristic waveform which differentiate it from other vibrating bodies, even if they have the same pitch and amplitude. This property of sound is known as sound quality.

Sound quality is the characteristic that distinguishes two sounds of the same pitch and same loudness by their waveform.

A soft and dull sound is produced by a tuning fork due to its tines vibrating like simple harmonic oscillators, producing a simple sine wave.

Sounds made by the musical instruments are more complex. By the principle of superposition waves of many frequencies add up and the complex wave is produced.The shape of the wave depends on the relative amplitude of these frequencies. Hence, the resultant waveform changes, that is, sound quality changes.

Conclusion:

Musical instruments do not sound like tuning forks as they differ in wave form.The tuning fork produces a simple sine wave, whereas, most musical instruments produce complex wave.