I have a unique contest for you. The first place prize is a copy of my book: Janice VanCleave’s Teaching the Fun of Science.

Two other winners will each receive one of my red tote bags.

Contest Rules:

1. Perform one of the experiments described below.

2. You are encouraged to design your own investigation, but it has to be about making sounds by tapping on a container filled with a liquid.

3. Email the following information to me at:  ASKVANCLEAVE@aol.com:

• Information about your investigation: procedure, materials used, etc.
• Results
• Photo of group performing the investigation (jpeg files work best)

Contest Investigation:

Tapping a glass bottle with a metal spoon causes the water inside to vibrate. The vibrating water produces sound. The pitch of the sound is determined by how fast the water  vibrates. As the water inside the bottle decreases it vibrates faster and a higher pitched sound is heard.

Note: When you change a variable you need to keep the other variables constant. Variables include: material bottles are made of, shape of the bottle, instrument used to tap the bottles with, amount of liquid in the bottle, type of liquid, amount of air in the bottle, what the bottle is sitting on, etc.

Note: You must have a Control, which is an experiment that you use as a standard. For example, if you want to see how the shape of the bottle affects the sound produced, you have to decide on a control shape. I suggest as straight a bottle as possible, then experiment with as many different shaped bottles as possible. Your results for each shape would be compared to the control.

Discover For Yourself

What effect does  the shape of the bottle have on the sound the bottle produces when tapped?

Discover For Yourself

What effect does the amount of air inside the bottles have on the sound the bottle produces when tapped?

Clue: Use bottles with different volumes but make the amount of water in each the same.

CONTEST ENDS THURSDAY, MAY 14th AT NOON (EST).