Question

Which of these happens last?

Nina hits a drum.
Nina hears the sound of her drum.
Sound waves travel through the air.
The surface of the drum vibrates, creating sound waves.

Answer 1

The last event in the process of hearing a drum sound is Nina hearing the sound of her drum, after the drum's surface vibrates, creates sound waves, and those waves travel through the air and are processed by her ear.

Step-by-step explanation:

The sequence of events related to the production and hearing of sound waves is as follows: First, Nina hits a drum, causing the surface of the drum to vibrate. These vibrations create sound waves that travel through the air. When these sound waves reach Nina's ears, they cause her eardrum and the tiny bones within her ear (hammer, anvil, and stirrup) to vibrate. Finally, the vibrations are transmitted to the cochlea, where they are converted into nerve impulses that travel to the brain. The brain interprets these impulses, and as a result, Nina hears the sound of her drum. Therefore, the last event that happens in this process is Nina hearing the sound of her drum.

Answer 2

In their House of Sound, Fran Scott and Greg Foot investigate how drums work.

Drums have been around for thousands of years and throughout history have often been involved in warfare -something they are reminded of as they play along to Mars from Holst’s The Planets suite.

Using confetti placed on a drum they use a slow motion camera to reveal how the confetti behaves like air molecules when the drum is struck.

The skin of the drum vibrates and makes the confetti dance.

As the air molecules vibrate against each other, sound waves are formed and the sound of the drums can be heard.

Fran explains that the pitch of a drum depends on how tight its skin is. If the skin is tight the drum makes a high note, if it is slack it makes a low note.

Greg points out the amount of air inside a drum also influences its pitch. The more air in a drum, the lower the note. The less air in a drum, the higher the note.

Volume depends on the size of the vibrations that are made.

Hit a drum hard and this makes big vibrations and a loud sound.

Hit a drum softly and the vibrations are smaller and the sound not as loud.

Together they make a drum kit out of things that can be found around the house, and Fran shows us how to make fun drums out of a plastic bowl and half a balloon.

This clip is from the series House of Sound.