The French horn, one of the most beautiful-sounding instruments in the orchestra

Question

The French horn, one of the most beautiful-sounding instruments in the orchestra, consists of about 3.56 m (roughly 11.7 ft ) of thin tubing, rolled into a spiral shape (although sizes do vary). The player blows into the mouthpiece, which can be treated as a closed end, and places his hand in the opposite end, which has a large flared opening. In brass instruments, the fundamental note is not normally playable. Instead the first overtone is the lowest playable note.

A) If the player's hand keeps the large end open, what is the frequency of the lowest playable note?

f open = ________ Hz

B)If the player now closes the large end with his hand, what is the frequency of the lowest playable note? (Note:The physics of the French horn is much more complex than is indicated here. The player's hand in the open end also changes the effective length of the tube, which then affects the frequency of the sound.)

f closed = _______ Hz

Explanation / Answer

There will be a node at the mouthpiece and an anti-node at the bell

The lowest note has a wavelength = 4/3 l

The speed of sound at about body temperature = 331m/s + (0.6 * 37 m/s) = 353 m/s

frequency = speed / wavelelength

= 353 m/s / (4/3 * 3.36m)

= 78.8 Hz

----------------------------------------------------

B) The lowest note has a wavelength of l.

= 353m/s / 3.36 m

= 105 Hz

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