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Standard Wave: 2nd harmonic
 
Video by Astrid Lorange

Year 13 Physics

Ms A Lorange, Physics —

Year 13 Physics students are working on the formation of standing waves in musical instruments and how it produces notes.

Here are two videos representing 2 different modes of vibration for standing waves called the second and third harmonics. When playing a note on a musical instrument a series of harmonics get superimposed and the outcome is a note we recognise belongs to a specific instrument from the timbre (sum of all the harmonics combined).