The study of vibration in uniform beams provides physics teachers with a platform by which a broad range of physics vibration-related topics can be explored without expensive and specialized equipment. This paper presents two laboratory exercises related to lateral beam vibrations. These exercises use beam theory coupled with free sound-analysis software (Raven Lite 2.0), and are appropriate for both high school and first-year college physics students. In this paper, the uniform beam is a slender tube with unsupported (or free) ends—such as a wind chime.
References
1.
Raven Lite 2.0
, http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp/raven/RavenOverview.html.2.
G. William
Baxter
and Keith M.
Hagenbuch
, “A student project on wind chimes
,” Phys. Teach.
36
, 209
–210
(April
1998
).3.
Mahen
Mahendran
, “The Modulus of Elasticity of Steel – Is It 200 GPa?
” International Specialty Conference on Cold-Formed Steel Structures
(1996
).4.
See for example “
Make Your Own Wind Chimes
,” http://www.phy.mtu.edu/∼suits/windchime.html;James
Skipper
, “How To Make Great Sounding Wind-Chimes
,” https://nchsdduncanapphysics.wikispaces.com/file/view/Making+Great+Sounding+Wind.pdf;William
Gurstelle
, “How to Make Your Own Wind Chimes
,” http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/how-to/a7426/how-to-make-your-own-wind-chimes/, accessed Jan. 26, 2018.5.
A superseded version of Raven Lite (rather than Raven Lite 2.0) was used to obtain Fig. 3
, http://www.birds.cornell.edu/brp/raven/RavenOverview.html.© 2018 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2018
American Association of Physics Teachers
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