Singing Wine Glasses
A wet finger on a glass rim sings a clear note — tune several glasses into an instrument of resonance.
Start building ↓The build
Wet the rim
Dampen your finger and the glass rim.
Circle steadily
Slide your finger smoothly around the rim.
Find the note
A pure tone builds as the glass resonates.
Tune with water
Add water to lower the pitch and make a scale.
Friction from your finger sets the glass wall vibrating at its natural resonant frequency, which we hear as a steady musical tone.
A closer look
Adding water lowers the frequency by increasing the vibrating mass, letting you tune each glass to a different note.
Variables to test
- 1 Map water level to pitch and graph it.
- 2 Compare thin vs thick glasses — which rings clearer?
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