Well, I was practicing piano today when I realized that I have yet to write a journal about the piano and all the good physics associated with it. Like the video in class mentioned, the piano is able to create such a wide range of volumes because of its impressive sounding board which can amplify the waves produced initially by the strings. On the other hand, the sound can also be dampened by holding down the damper pedal which shifts the hammers, causing them to only hit two of the three strings.
In addition, the strings are responsible for producing the different notes (higher or lower frequencies) corresponding to the different keys. The length, tension, and type of string/wire used help create the different notes/frequencies. Furthermore, another bit of information I recognized from class was the concept of octaves and accepted frequencies. In playing piano, if I had perfect pitch (which I don't) I would be able to recognize a note simply by hearing it. I would also be able to recognize that same note in a different octave. This is because similar notes in different octaves in fact have frequencies which are multiples of two of each other (for example, a note with a frequency of 100 Hz would be recognized as the same note but one octave lower than a note with a frequency of 200 Hz).
Overall, I thought it was pretty funny to realize that despite practicing piano every day for an hour or so, I've never connected it to physics until now. I got a good laugh out of my revelation and a fair amount of strange looks from my parents.
