What Was This Project?
For our second to last STEM project for this year, we looked at something everyone is familiar with, music, and looked at how it works. We studied that waves are created by a vibration and that they transfer energy. We looked at the electromagnetic spectrum and all the different kind of waves on it such as radio waves on the low end and gamma rays and the higher end. Using this knowledge and much more from this unit, we were tasked with building three musical instruments within our group; a wind instrument, a string instrument, and a chime. My group consisted of Daniel Ford, Derek Dela Cruz, Diego Gutierrez, and Zane Walas. I spearheaded the making the wind instrument while the rest of my group worked on the other instruments. My group also wrote a parody of "Crocodile Rock" that related to waves. In this web page, you can find a video of our performance (I was not present due to family matters), a justification document that details information about each instrument and how it works, an image of my instrument, a blue print for my instrument, the parody song, concepts used in this project, and a reflection of my experience.
Concepts in This Project:
Transverse Waves- This is a type of wave were the movement of particles is perpendicular to wave motion. We use transverse waves to transmit light waves.
Longitudinal Waves- This is a kind a wave where particle moment and wave motion is parallel. Longitudinal waves are used to transmit sound.
Wave Speed- The wave speed of a wave is its velocity. This can be found by multiplying its wave length by its frequency. The wave speed of the wave produced by my instrument is 34549 m/s.
Wave Length- The length from one peak to another in one wave. This can be calculated as velocity divided by frequency. The wave length of the wave produced by my instrument is 131.87 meters.
Frequency- The number of waves generated per second. The unit for this is hertz (Hz) and to calculate it's velocity divided by wave length.
Period- This is the time it takes for one wave to be generated. To calculate it, it's 1 over frequency.
Amplitude- A wave's amplitude is the magnitude of the wave. This aspect of the wave controls its volume.
Refraction- Refraction is where one part of the wave starts to go slower than the other as it enters in a new medium.
Law of Reflection- This law states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
Doppler Effect- The Doppler Effect is where the frequency or wave length of a wave changes depending on your distance from the source.
Longitudinal Waves- This is a kind a wave where particle moment and wave motion is parallel. Longitudinal waves are used to transmit sound.
Wave Speed- The wave speed of a wave is its velocity. This can be found by multiplying its wave length by its frequency. The wave speed of the wave produced by my instrument is 34549 m/s.
Wave Length- The length from one peak to another in one wave. This can be calculated as velocity divided by frequency. The wave length of the wave produced by my instrument is 131.87 meters.
Frequency- The number of waves generated per second. The unit for this is hertz (Hz) and to calculate it's velocity divided by wave length.
Period- This is the time it takes for one wave to be generated. To calculate it, it's 1 over frequency.
Amplitude- A wave's amplitude is the magnitude of the wave. This aspect of the wave controls its volume.
Refraction- Refraction is where one part of the wave starts to go slower than the other as it enters in a new medium.
Law of Reflection- This law states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
Doppler Effect- The Doppler Effect is where the frequency or wave length of a wave changes depending on your distance from the source.
Reflection:
This project was different from the rest, as I was gone for a good chunk of this project due to illness and family matters. But, there were still some good things I did while working on this project. For one, I felt like I did a good job as an instigator. I did things such as starting the processes of making the justification document and the song parody. Another thing, I did well with was working with the time that I had to do everything I needed to do.
Now, for the things I did poorly. Firstly, as mentioned earlier I was absent for a nice deal of the project. While this was out of my hands, it still was a detriment to my group to have one less person helping out. Another thing I could have done better was helping more with the other instruments. While I did help Derek with assembling the chimes, it was a small contribution and I could have helped more with others work.
Now, for the things I did poorly. Firstly, as mentioned earlier I was absent for a nice deal of the project. While this was out of my hands, it still was a detriment to my group to have one less person helping out. Another thing I could have done better was helping more with the other instruments. While I did help Derek with assembling the chimes, it was a small contribution and I could have helped more with others work.