Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Coupling Of Transverse And Longitudinal Waves In Piano Strings, Nikki Etchenique, Samantha Collin, Thomas R. Moore

Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Publications

The existence of longitudinal waves in vibrating piano strings has been previously established, as has their importance in producing the characteristic sound of the piano. Modeling of the coupling between the transverse and longitudinal motion of strings indicates that the amplitude of the longitudinal waves are quadratically related to the transverse displacement of the string, however, experimental verification of this relationship is lacking. In the work reported here this relationship is tested by driving the transverse motion of a piano string at only two frequencies, which simplifies the task of unambiguously identifying the constituent signals. The results indicate that the …