A guide to the scientific knowledge of things familiar / by the Rev. Dr. Brewer.
- E. Cobham Brewer
- Date:
- [1853]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A guide to the scientific knowledge of things familiar / by the Rev. Dr. Brewer. Source: Wellcome Collection.
435/496 page 429
![strincf; and the vibration thus produced, sets in motion the sound-waves of the air. Q. Why are some notes bass, and some TREBLE ? A. Because slow vibrations produce hass or deep sounds; but quick vibrations produce slirill or treble ones. The deepest bass sound audible is produced by 32 Tibrations in a second ; the sharpest treble sound by ] 5,000. The note of any higher octave is produced by twice as many vibrations, as the correspondinj; note of the octave below. Thus if C on the piano be produced by 258 vibrations in a second, thea the octave (or eighth note higher) would be produced by 616 vibrations in the same time, and the eighth note lower by 129 vibrations. (See p. Q. Why is an instrument flat, when the strings are unstrung? A. Because the vibrations being too sloiu, the sounds produced are not shrill or shar'p enough. Q, IVhy can persons, living a mile or two from a town, hear the hells of the town-church SOMETIMES, and not at others ? A. Because fogs, rain, and snow, obstruct the passage of sound ; but when the air is cold and clear, sound is propa- gated more easily. The direction of the wind will often account for this fact. Q. Why can we not hear sounds {as those qf](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21495464_0435.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
