Blog 11: Xylophone Fun

Although we may not realize it, even as little kids, physics was something we played with on an everyday basis.  This toy xylophone, for example, is a perfect display of sound waves.  When we hit the longer bars of metal on the red end of the xylophone, we hear a lower noise and when we hit the shorter bars on the purple side of the xylophone, we hear higher pitched sounds.  We hear different pitched noises by hitting the different lengths of bars on the xylophone because the frequency of the waves from each bar is different.  The pitches for the longer bars are lower because they have a slower frequency than the shorter bars that have a higher frequency and, therefore, a higher pitch.  So even though as children we do not realize it, as we pounded on the colorful bars of the xylophone, or the lacquered keys of a piano, we can hear the different sounds coming from each instrument because of the different sound waves that are produced.