Discover Sound
Sound is a series of compression waves (vibrations) that move through the air to your ear. The waves make your eardrum vibrate which your brain then interprets as sound.
Did you know that if you screamed in space you wouldn’t be able to hear it because there is no air to transfer the sound?
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Air Cannon
Although we can’t see it, the space around us is completely full of stuff. This stuff is air. Without the air in the room we wouldn’t be able to hear at all.
At the air cannon hit the yellow plastic circle and fire a vortex of air to the silver screen. Can you see it move?
By forcing the air out of the cannon quickly we effect all the air in the space around the cannon, and eventually we see the silver target move. In the same way when we make a sound we cause the air to vibrate and this vibration effects all the air around us, right up to the air in our ears.
When using the activities in the discovery zone remember to:
- Predict: What do you think will happen?
- Experiment: Test the activity
- Conclude: What did happen?
- Investigate: How could you change the experiment to get a different outcome?