Using Harmonic Series to Determine Violin Overtones and Their Corresponding Frequencies and Waveleng

by Juliana Benson

Submitted : Fall 2020

Every fundamental pitch on a violin resonates not only at its natural frequency but also at the frequency of all of its corresponding overtones. The purpose of this paper is to calculate the frequency and wavelength of different overtones of the fundamental pitch A 440 and to determine whether the number of overtones of this frequency is finite or infinite. The frequencies of these overtones were calculated with the use of a harmonic series, which is an important concept in calculus. The number of overtones present in the series were also determined through the use of calculus concepts. The results show that the frequencies of these overtones increase as the harmonic series progresses while the corresponding wavelengths decrease as the harmonic series progresses. It was also determined that the harmonic series for violin overtones diverges, which suggests that a fundamental frequency has an infinite number of overtones.

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