Musical Bottles (61 Super Science Experiments)

You will need:

1. Bottles of different sizes
2. Water
3. Recorder (not compulsory)

Create some musical notes with a bottle
and water.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pinching your mouth as if you are about to whistle, blow a constant stream of air onto the mouth of the bottle.
2. Adjust the angle until you hear a musical note. Remember the angle and the note you have just made.
3. If you have a recorder, you could record the note to compare later.
4. Now add water to the bottle and blow the same note again. Does the note sound the same with water in the bottle?
5. Keep adding water to the bottle and compare the notes made with the increasing water.
6. Try making the note with a different sized bottle and compare the pitch.

RESULT

When you blow a stream of air onto the mouth of the bottle, the air rushes in and either goes into the bottle or gets deflected. As the air rushes into the bottle, it begins to accumulate there and builds pressure. At this point, the air rushes out until the pressure is once again low and air is sucked back in. This process creates vibrations, which are heard through airwaves as notes. The smaller the bottle or the more water it has filled in it, the lesser space there is inside the bottle which results in building up more pressure and faster vibrations.