Use of simplified bowed string model in physics education: A laboratory experiment
Marek Vilipuu, Dmitri Kartofelev, Jaan Kalda · Proceedings of meetings on acoustics · 2022
This paper proposes an educational science experiment on elastic string vibration where the string is excited by bowing. A custom-built monochord is used to study the resulting vibration experimentally. The mono-chord employs the Faraday's law of induction to measure the string displacement. The proposed experiment is accompanied by numerical simulations based on the integration of a nonlinear 1D damped wave equation with an external forcing term. The simulations give students the ability to compare the theory with practice. The study of bowed string dynamics aims to make the proposed science experiment more meaningful and engaging for students, since many string instruments, such as violin, cello, and other viol and viola family instruments, are played in such a manner. The proposed experiment can be used by teachers teaching BSc and MSc level students in acoustics, physics, applied mechanics, applied mathematics, and other related fields of science.