Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

I want to get started on my science fair project, but I'm stuck on how to use Audacity shareware. I will be using the spectrum analysis tool.

I play the cello and I want to do an experiment that compares different types (brands) of strings and then correlating what I hear to the harmonics of the sound. I was going to measure the sound using Audacity's spectrum analysis tool. When I tried using the spectrum analysis tool the graph had dB and Hz on it. I know Hz is frequency, but is dB pitch or sound. Is sound or pitch the same as amplitude?

Can anyone help me with the settings so my Hz is in the 220 and up range rather than in the ten thousands range? I wanted to see if titanium, tungsten, or silver wrapped strings made a difference, but a physics teacher told me it would be too hard to measure.

Hi,

This sounds like a really interesting science project that is bound to teach you a lot about the physics of vibration.

You asked about the Audacity program. I have used it in the past, but it was several years ago. I don't consider myself any kind of expert on that program. What I would recommend is to Google something like "how to use Audacity program". I did that and a lot of tutorial sites came up, including some YouTube videos.

Once you discover how to set up the program to measure what you need, be sure to do some research on the basic physics of vibration. Here are some suggestions you might want to study:

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/U11l5a.cfm

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/violintro.html

Good luck with your work and HAVE FUN!

Hi,

Just to add to Ed's reply, db is 'decibels' which is, as you thought, a measure of the amplitude of the sound.