Question

During a lab, a student tapes a ruler to a lab table and sets the ruler in motion. A laser detector pointed at the ruler records how many times the ruler vibrates back and forth in a period of time.
What is the order of trials from least to greatest pitch?

One; Two; Three; Four
One; Two; Four; Three
Three; One; Two; Four
Four; Two; One; Three

Answer 1

Answer:

Four; Two; One; Three

Explanation:

During a lab, a student tapes a ruler to a lab table and sets the ruler in motion. A laser detector pointed at the ruler records how many times the ruler vibrates back and forth in a period of time.

Pitch or frequency is defined as the number of cycles per unit time. We can calculate the pitch for each trials i.e.

Trial one, $pitch=\dfrac{10}{0.25}=40\ s^{-1}$

Trial two,  $pitch=\dfrac{11}{0.30}=36.67\ s^{-1}$

Trial three,  $pitch=\dfrac{13}{0.31}=41.93\ s^{-1}$

Trial four,  $pitch=\dfrac{12}{0.33}=36.36\ s^{-1}$      

Hence, the order of the trials from least to greatest pitch is :

Trial four, Trial two, Trial one and Trial three i.e. option (d) is correct.