H3-61. Beaker Breaker

Purpose

To break a glass beaker with a sound wave.

Equipment

Beaker with oscillator, 100 watt monaural power amplifier, JBL2445 120 Watt 16 ohm horn driver, microphone, stroboscope, TV with monitor, and oscilloscope. ◙

Suggestions

This is a very dramatic demonstration, and may be used at a number of levels.

Images

Description

An audio oscillator and 100 Watt power amplifier are used to drive a heavy-duty horn driver which is mounted in the back of the plastic beaker cavity with the sound emerging through a hole, which can be seen in the photograph. The beaker is positioned on a foam pedestal in front of the speaker hole. A microphone is mounted at 90 degrees from the position of the speaker. With the sound at some intermediate level, the resonant frequency is found by sweeping the frequency of the oscillator very slowly past the resonant freque

References

Lecture Demonstration Calculations Sheet, "Q of Mechanical Oscillators." ◙Lecture Demonstration Design Drawings. ◙Instruction Manual, Model M0100A , 100W Public Address Booster Amplifier, BOGEN Communcations. ◙Haym Kruglak, Did This Really Happen?, TPT 14, 126, (1976). ◙Willard C. Walker, Demonstrating Resonance by Shattering Glass With Sound, TPT 15, 294-296, (1977). ◙Haym Kruglak and Rene Pittet, The Caruso Legend Lives On, TPT 17, 49, (1979). ◙Gordon E. Jones and W. Paul Gordon, Apparatus for a Shattering Experience, AJP 47, 828-829, (1979). ◙Len Klein, Is it Live or Is It ?????? Shattering