THE SONOMETER AND STRINGS

By Joe Laszlo, Ph.D.

Background: The sonometer is a device that enables you to determine the relationship between
the tension or force pulling on a vibrating string and the frequency it produces and the length of a
vibrating string and the frequency it produces.
Materials: a sonometer consists of a board with two monofilament strings each being one meter
long between the inner bridgepiece and the end bridgepiece. String A. is attached to an anchor
on the board near the inner bridgepiece and has a loop on the other end, hanging over the end
bridgepiece. Masses attached to the loop cause tension on it. String B is attached to the board
below the end bridge piece, with the other end attached to a tuning peg. Turning the tuning peg
enables the string to be tuned to a given frequency (Figure 1). Also included is a set of tuning
forks, a tuning fork mallet, a fret piece, a meter stick, and masking tape.
SONOMETER Figure 1

tuning peg

String B adjusted with tuning peg

end bridgepiece

JRL

inner
bridgepiece

String A with mass on free end

tuning fork

mass on free
end of String A.

fret piece

tuning fork mallet

Part 1 Tension and Frequency.

Problem: What happens to the frequency of a vibrating string as the tension or the force on the
string is increased?
The frequency of a string is how high or how low the sound is when the string is plucked.
1. Clamp the sonometer onto a table top with a C clamp near the tuning peg end and
with the end bridgepiece over the edge of the tabletop.
2. Hang a kilogram mass on the end of String A. Pluck the string. Listen to the frequency of the
string. Is it high or low? Make a data table with a column for tension and one for frequency.
Describe the change in tension and the change in frequency qualitatively, as you add weights to
the free end of the String A.

3. Add another weight to the free end of String A (Figure 2). Pluck the string. How does the
frequency of the string compare with the pitch you heard for the first trial? Enter your data into
the table.
3. Do two additional trials by adding additional weights to the free end of String A, plucking it
and determining the change of frequency of the string. Record your results into the data table.
SONOMETER

Figure 2

INCREASE OF TENSION WITH MASSES

JRL

A. string with mass on free end

mass on free end

of String A.
additional mass
on String A.

Summary Question
1. What is the relationship between the change of tension caused by the addition of weights on
the vibrating string and the frequency of the String A? Is this what you would logically expect to
happen as the tension changes? Explain your answer.
Part 2. Length of the String and Frequency
Background: In this part of the sonometer activity you will be using a number of tuning forks.
To cause a tuning fork to vibrate, strike it with the rubber mallet provided at the midpoint of one
of the tines. NEVER STRIKE A TUNING FORK ON A HARD SURFACE. TO DO SO WILL
CAUSE IT TO BECOME WARPED AND USELESS.
Problem: What is the change in frequency of a vibrating string as the length of the string is
changed?
1. Put a piece of masking tape on the sonometer board under String B the entire length of the
string from the inner bridgepiece to the end bridgepiece. As you change the length of the string,
you may make pencil marks on the tape, BUT NOT ON THE BOARD (Figure 3). Remember
that the open string is 1 meter long.
2. Strike the tuning fork that is the musical note C at 256 Hz, and put the handle of the tuning
fork against the sonometer board. This will cause the sonometer board to resonate. Tune String
B to 256 Hz by changing the tension by turning the tuning peg to which the string is attached.
2

tuning peg

Figure 3

SONOMETER

fretpiece

masking tape strip

JRL

meterstick
CHANGNG THE LENGTH OF THE VIBRATING STRING BY USING THE FRETPIECE.

3. Make a data table with two columns: one for length of string and the other for the frequency
of the string when plucked. The frequency can be found stamped into the tuning fork you used
to identify the frequency of the vibrating string. Your first entry will be frequency 256 Hz with a
length of 1 meter.
4. Find the tuning fork with the next highest frequency above 256 Hz. Strike it and place the
handle onto the sonometer board. Using the fretpiece, shorten the string starting from the inner
bridgepiece end while plucking the string until you find the length that is in tune with this tuning
fork. Mark this place on the masking tape. Measure the length of the vibrating portion of the
string and enter it into the data table along with the frequency stamped onto he tuning fork.
5. Repeat step 4 above with each of the remaining tuning forks. Record readings into the data
table.
6. Measure the room air temperature and enter it into your data table.
7. When complete, one partner will enter your groups data into the class data table on the
chalkboard.
8. Make a copy of the class data for yourself.
Graphing: You will plot two graphs. One will be of your groups data, the other of the class
data. Make a graph of the frequency and length of the plucked string data. Use the length as the
independent variable on the X-axis and the frequency on the Y-axis.
Summary Questions
1. What is the shape of the curve on the graph of your groups data?
What is the shape of the curve on the graph of the class data?
Explain why the curve is the shape that you described above.

2. Give reasons why you were asked to make a graph of the class data.
3. What is the relationship between the change of length of the vibrating string and the
frequency of the string? Is this what you would logically expect to happen as the length
changes? Explain your answer.
4. Pipes are also used to produce sounds. An example of a pipe that can produce sounds is a
trombone. Based upon the above experimentation with vibrating strings, what might happen to
the frequency of a sound being produced by a trombone when only the length of the pipe of the
slide changes? Explain your answer and your logic.
Extensional Exercise
From this activity you should have gained an understanding of the effect of either a change in
tension or a change in the length of the string has on the frequency that it produces. A third
factor that can change the frequency of a string is a change in the density of the material of
which the string is made.
1. What do you predict that a change in the density of the string would have on the frequency of
a vibrating string?
2. How might you do an experiment to prove your prediction? Outline a procedure below. Then
do your activity to show the relationship between density and frequency.

Vocabulary
Frequency
Hertz (Hz
Wavelength
Force
Tension
Vibration
Sonometer
Tuning Fork
String