Question: The fundamental frequency of a closed pipe, if its first overtone is in unison with a tuning fork of...

Question

The fundamental frequency of a closed pipe, if its first overtone is in unison with a tuning fork of 480 Hz, is

Answer 1

Solution

For a closed pipe, only the odd harmonics are present. Thus, the first overtone is the third harmonic. Given that the frequency of the first overtone (third harmonic) is 480 Hz, we have:

f_3 = 3f_1 = 480 \text{ Hz} \quad \Rightarrow \quad f_1 = \frac{480}{3} = 160 \text{ Hz}