Bottle Sounds

For this year's Science Fair, Aubrey got curious about sounds bottles make when they a) have different water levels, and b) are tapped on or blown into.

 

She started out with identical bottles with different levels of water (which of course had to be a snazzy color). 

 

She then got out her keyboard and tried to find a note that matched the sound the bottles made, first when blown into, and secondly, when tapped. Finding the notes was hard, and she needed some help from me, but she thought it was really fun to do this experiment.

What she found out: 

*Taps sounds go lower in pitch as the water rises -- because the tap vibrations get bigger with more liquid.

*Blows go higher in pitch as water rises -- because the air vibrations have less space to fill when there's more liquid, which means the vibrations go faster and higher.

 

After many long week night and weekend hours, she had her "What I Wondered" and "What I Found Out" sections laid out on her board. Below, she tells one of the judges (her teacher, Debi) about her experiment and its implications.

 Way to go, Aubrey!