The main reason for using the fork shape is that, unlike many other types of resonators, it produces a very pure tone, with most of the vibrational energy at the fundamental frequency. Description Motion of an A-440 tuning fork (greatly exaggerated) vibrating in its principal modeĪ tuning fork is a fork-shaped acoustic resonator used in many applications to produce a fixed tone. The tuning fork was invented in 1711 by British musician John Shore, sergeant trumpeter and lutenist to the royal court. They are traditional sources of standard pitch for tuning musical instruments. A tuning fork's pitch depends on the length and mass of the two prongs. It resonates at a specific constant pitch when set vibrating by striking it against a surface or with an object, and emits a pure musical tone once the high overtones fade out. ![]() Tuning fork by John Walker stamped with note (E) and frequency in hertz (659)Ī tuning fork is an acoustic resonator in the form of a two-pronged fork with the prongs ( tines) formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal (usually steel). Koenig’s great tonometer was exhibited at the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 and was widely regarded by American scientists as the most scientifically important instrument at the event.Device that generates sounds of constant pitch when struck ![]() Because of the difficulty in producing tiny tuning forks, sounds above that frequency were produced by rubbing precisely made steel rods with a rosined cloth. He constructed a tonometer of 670 tuning forks which ranged in pitch from 16 to 4,096 hertz. In 1876 the acoustic instrument maker Rudolph Koenig expanded the idea of a tonometer from a single octave to the entire range of human hearing. His most advanced design consisted of 56 forks, which together covered the range of a single octave (from A220 to A440) at 4 wavelength intervals. Scheibler constructed many tonometers during his life, and different sets would have different numbers of tuning forks. It was the German silk manufacturer (and acoustic researcher) Johann Scheibler who first suggested this instrument, in 1834, and it was he who built the first one. Maintained in motion by batteries, the resonating forks far exceed the accuracy of conventional mechanical watches.Ī “Tonometer” is a carefully constructed set of tuning forks which were used, by comparison, to determine the pitch of other sounds. One notable exception has been the introduction, around 1960, of tiny quartz tuning forks in high-precision watches. In the 20th century, the development of electronic technologies for measurement and precision timing quickly replaced technologies that employed mechanical tuning forks. Albert Michelson, for example, used light reflected from the vibrating tines of a tuning fork to make his historic measurements of the speed of light. Specialized techniques were developed to use them for measuring different kinds of vibrations, and they were frequently used as high-precision timing standards. By the last decades of the 19th century, tuning forks were among the most precise of all scientific instruments. In the 19th century, advances in manufacturing made it possible to create extremely precise tuning forks, which were made in sets and used as tone generators to identify and measure other sounds. Strong used his fork as a pitch standard to tune musical instruments, a task for which they are still used today. The invention of the tuning fork is generally credited to the British musician, John Shore, in 1711. Shortening the length of the tines allows them to vibrate faster and thus produce a higher sound. Longer tines vibrate more slowly and thus produce a lower tone. ![]() The tone a fork makes is determined primarily by the length of its “tines” (or prongs). ![]() When struck it produces several tones – a fundamental and at least one harmonic – but the fork’s shape tends to minimize the harmonics and within a few seconds only the fundamental can be heard. Technically, a tuning fork is an acoustic resonator.
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