I have question on standing waves. I have undestood that standing waves
(fundamental and higher harmonics) are produces on any object that is set onto
vibration. Then I read from a high school physics book that a tuning fork would
have only one frequency and no higher harmonics at all.
Well, I checked one tuning fork using a microscope and oscilloscope. The signal
was quite sinusoidal but it was altered significantly. To me it looked like an
interference between the fundamental frequency and harmonics. Performing a
Fourier analysis could separate the signal into components but I do not have
that possibility at school.
Could it be that a tuning fork minimizes amplitudes of higher harmonics and
that's why the book stated that only one frequence is produced?
Regards,
Antti
Antti Savinainen
Physics Teacher
Kuopion Lyseo High School/IB
Finland