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resonance
The enormous increase in the strength of a vibration that occurs when the frequency of an applied force happens to equal the natural frequency of an object. Every object has natural frequencies of vibration. In other words, if an object is allowed to vibrate freely it makes a definite number of vibrations each second. An object can be made to vibrate at almost any frequency we wish by applying forces to it at regular intervals ("forced vibrations") but the strength will be small – except when resonance occurs.
The principle of resonance is important in music. A guitar, a piano, a trombone, in fact any instrument, is built so that it will resound with the notes played on it. This resonance makes certain of the notes and their harmonics louder than others, and this is what largely gives the instrument its characteristic tonal quality. Thus a clarinet does not make quite the same sound as a bassoon, even where both instruments are playing the same note.
Related categories
• WAVES AND WAVE PHENOMENA
• ACOSUTICS AND MUSIC
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