Tissue Box Guitar

When a guitarist plucks a guitar string it vibrates at a specific frequency, which determines the ___________ of the sound we hear.

Match the sounds to your guitar:

• thin strings

• low pitch

• thick strings

• high pitch

• Large guitar

• low volume

• Small Guitar

• high volume (louder)

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

A student uses rubber bands, paper towel tubes, and two tissue boxes of different sizes to build two guitars. Guitar 2 is deeper and wider than guitar 1. Both guitars have an equal length. The student uses four rubber bands, each with a different width, as strings on each guitar.

Which statement best describes the sounds made by the guitars?

• Guitar 1 is the louder guitar because the sound energy produced by plucking a rubber band causes a smaller volume of air in the box to resonate and amplify the sound.

• Guitar 2 is the louder guitar because the sound energy produced by plucking a rubber band causes a larger volume of air in the box to resonate and amplify the sound.

• Guitar 1 is the louder guitar because the rubber bands are stretched tighter around the box, amplifying the sound.

• Guitar 2 is the louder guitar because the rubber bands are less stretched around the box, amplifying the sound.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

A student builds a simple guitar using rubber bands and a card board box. Plucking the rubber bands results in sound waves. Which step would best help the student investigate the effect of changing the resonance of the sound waves?

• adding more rubber bands to the guitar

• adding color patterns to the outside of the box

• using more force when plucking the rubber bands

• building a similar guitar using a larger or smaller box

A teacher makes a model guitar by using an open box for the guitar body and rubber bands for the strings. Students observe that the pitch of the sound produced by each rubber band depends on how tight the rubber band is.

​

​Based on your understanding of pitch, what is a possible reason that the tightness of a rubber band can change the pitch of sound?

• It makes the rubber band vibrate faster or slower.

• It makes the rubber band vibrate in different directions.

• It makes the rubber band vibrate more loudly or more softly.

• It makes the rubber band vibrate for different lengths of time.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

A guitarist strums two strings on a guitar. The first string vibrates more quickly than the second string. What is true about the pitch of the strings?

Groups:

(a) First String

,

(b) Second String

• moves slower

• lower pitch

• moves faster

• higher pitch

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

Match the following tasks to accomplish changing how the guitar sounds:

• pluck rubber bands softer

• low pitch

• pluck small rubber bands

• high pitch

• pluck larger rubber bands

• louder sound

• pluck rubber bands harder

• quieter sound

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

Rocky was playing his guitar. He plucked a single string and heard a very high pitch. Which of the following waveforms best models the sound Rocky's guitar made?

• 
• 
• 
• 

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

Reorder the following mediums for the speed of sound:

Fast (left) <--------------- Slow (right)

• liquid

• solid

• gas

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

Which statement best describes how the amplitude and energy of a sound wave are affected as the wave travels through air inside the guitar and as the wave travels through the tissue box of the guitar?

• The sound wave has more energy and a smaller amplitude when traveling through the tissue box than when traveling through air.

• The sound wave has less energy and a larger amplitude when traveling through the tissue box than when traveling through air.

• The sound wave has less energy and a smaller amplitude when traveling through the tissue box than when traveling through air.

• The sound wave has more energy and a larger amplitude when traveling through the tissue box than when traveling through air.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

NGSS.MS-PS4-2