Melde's Appratus
Melde's Appratus
To determine the frequency of electrically maintained tuning fork by means of Melde's apparatus in longitudinal and transverse mode of vibration
Scale pan with hook to carry weights for tensioning the cord. This compact and robust instrument can be free standing on the bench, clamped to a bench, or supported horizontally or vertically from a retort stand. It is used for the lateral vibration of a cord at 50Hz or 60Hz frequency for experiments in standing waves and resonance. When used normally, the cord is tensioned by passing it over a pulley mounted at the edge of the bench and attaching the cord to a scale pan. Adding weights to the pan increases the tension in the cord. The active length of the cord is simply adjusted by moving the instrument on the bench relative to the position of the pulley clamped to the edge of the bench.
If the unit is supported on a retort stand so the cord hangs vertically from the vibrator, a pulley is not required and a normal weight hanger can be attached directly to the end of the cord. Mounting the unit vertically makes adjustment of the cord length more difficult, but it demonstrates the various reactions at the weight end of the cord.
Depending on how the unit is supported (see the illustrations), the cord can be made to vibrate in any plane and therefore can be viewed by students from various directions.
Longitudinal mode- In this arrangement the tuning fork is set in such a manner that the vibrations of the prongs are parallel to the length of the string.
Transverse mode - In this arrangement the vibration of the prongs of the tuning fork are in the direction perpendicular to the length of the string.
Selecting Tuning fork - There are five tuning forks with different frequencies. One can choose any one of the tuning forks to carry out the experiment.
Select Environment- This is used to select the environment to carry out the experiment.
Scope of Learning
To determine the frequency of an electrically maintained tuning fork by,
Transverse mode of vibration
Longitudinal mode of vibration
