Visualization of the sound field formed by a tuning fork

―Toward a clear understanding of phenomena related to a tuning fork in science education―

Abstract

　Regarding a tuning fork, which is often used in science education, what kind of sound field is formed around it is not fully understood. Under these circumstances, we attempted a visualization of the sound field formed around a tuning fork using Improved-FDM for calculation of elastic wave propagation. As a result, visualization images of sound waves and amplitude distribution around tuning forks were obtained. From the images, the sound field characteristics of the tuning fork were confirmed to have four maxima at short distances and two maxima at long distances around the forks. In addition, it was shown that the characteristics of the sound field around the tuning fork are easy to understand if they are interpreted based on the sound field around the single sound source.