What happens when prongs of a tuning fork vibrate to and fro about their mean positions?
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Solution
When a prong of a tuning fork moves outwards, it pushes and compresses the air in front of it creating a region of high pressure, which is commonly known as a compression region.
When the prong of a tuning fork moves inwards, it creates a region of low pressure called rarefaction (R).
As the prongs of a tuning fork move back and forth rapidly, a series of compression and rarefaction is created in the air and these make the sound wave that propagates through the air medium.