TO INVESTIGATE THE VARIATION OF THE FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY OF A STRETCHED STRING WITH TENSION.

In an experiment to investigate the variation of the fundamental frequency, f, of a stretched string with tension, T, the following values were found:

f / Hz	256	288	320	341	384	427	480	512
T / N	17.6	22.1	27.0	31.4	39.2	49.1	62.7	72.5

Draw a suitable graph to illustrate this relationship.

SOLUTION

Since the fundamental frequency is proportional to the square root of the tension,

we graph f against the square root of T.

f / Hz	256	288	320	341	384	427	480	512
	4.2	4.7	5.2	5.6	6.3	7.0	7.9	8.5

The straight line graph through the origin shows that .