H3-74: TUNING BAR PARADOX - EFFECT OF WIDTH

ID Code: H3-74
Purpose: Illustrate transverse vibrations of a solid bar struck in the center.
Description: When struck on top center with a rubber mallet, like a xylophone or marimba, the narrower bar on the right in the photograph above vibrates with a frequency f.

Q: Will the frequency of the larger bar on the left, which has the same length and thickness as the smaller bar, but twice the width, be greater than, less than, or the same as the frequency of the smaller bar?
A: The frequency will be the same for transverse vibrations

Availability: Available

See the Physics Question of the Week for 3/30/2015 for an example of how this demonstration can be used in class interaction and discussion: lecdem.physics.umd.edu/question-of-the-week-archive.html