Additional Info

• ID Code: H3-71
• Purpose: Illustrates longitudinal standing waves in an aluminum rod.
• Description: Apply powdered violin rosin to your fingers or wear a rosined glove and stroke the aluminum rod firmly while holding it at a nodal point. Holding it in the center produces the fundamental, holding at 1/4 of the way from one end produces the second harmonic, holding at 1/6 of the way from one end produces the third harmonic, etc. The rod is about 6 ft long, and the speed of sound in aluminum is about 16,700 ft/sec, so the frequency of the fundamental is about 1400 Hz. The sound is very loud and lasts a long time; the Q for this system is around 100,000!
  Alternatively, request an (optional) mallet to use with the rod. Use the mallet to strike the rod on one end; by holding the rod at a node or antinode, all or some modes can be excited or damped.
• Availability: Available