Tuning Fork Waves in a Spring
A tuning fork's vibration is too fast and too small to see, but coupling it to a spring makes the resulting wave visible. This simulation connects the two, linking an audible note to a travelling wave you can measure.
How to use this simulation
- Select tuning forks of different frequencies
- Change the spring tension
- Measure the wavelength on the spring
What to look for
- A higher-frequency fork produces a shorter wavelength on the same spring
- Tightening the spring raises the wave speed and stretches the wavelength
- The frequency is set entirely by the fork, never by the spring
The physics behind it
The fork vibrates at a fixed frequency, and each vibration launches a disturbance along the spring. The spring's wave carries the fork's frequency unchanged, so the note you hear and the wave you see share it. Wave speed depends on the spring's tension and mass per unit length, so the same fork produces different wavelengths on different springs, obeying v = fλ.