Question

Does a tuning fork or similar tuning instrument undergo SHM? Why is this a crucial question for musicians?

Short answer

Yes, a tuning fork or a similar tuning instrument undergoes SHM. They vibrate with same frequency and this is independent of amplitude. Musicians prefer to produce music with of a fixed frequency. If they use fixed frequency instrument, a tuning of most musical instruments would be achieved. This is the reason why a tuning fork like instrument can be used for musical pitch.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of SHM

A simple harmonic motion is characterized by a trajectory that can be described by the trigonometric functions, sine, and cosine. There are a lot of motions that can be described by simple harmonic motion, such as the motion of a swinging simple pendulum.

Explanation of Turning fork or similar instrument undergo SHM

In SHM, the angular frequency, the frequency and the perioddo not depend on the amplitude, (only on the mass and force constant),so,a tuning fork undergoes SHM.

For musicians, it is important that the PITCH (frequency) remains constant regardless of how hard the fork is struck (how loud the produced sound will be),and it needs to be maintained (unchanged) as the vibrations die down.