Question

What happens when prongs of a tuning fork vibrate to and fro about their mean positions?

Answer 1

1. 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.
2. When the prong of a tuning fork moves inwards, it creates a region of low pressure called rarefaction (R).
3. 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.