Piano tuners tune pianos by listening to the beats between the harmonics of two different strings. When properly tuned, the note A should have the frequency 440 Hz} and the note E should be at 659 Hz}. The tuner can determine this by listening to the beats between the third harmonic of the A and the second harmonic of the E.

Question

Piano tuners tune pianos by listening to the beats between the harmonics of two different strings. When properly tuned, the note A should have the frequency 440 Hz} and the note E should be at 659 Hz}. The tuner can determine this by listening to the beats between the third harmonic of the A and the second harmonic of the E.
Part A: A tuner first tunes the A string very precisely by matching it to a 440 Hz tuning fork. She then strikes the A and E strings simultaneously and listens for beats between the harmonics. What beat frequency indicates that the E string is properly tuned?'
Part B: The tuner starts with the tension in the E string a little low, then tightens it. What is the frequency of the E string when she hears four beats per second?

AP · Accepted Answer

these answers are not correct

bobpursley · Answer

beats=440(3)-659*2 b) 440*3-F(2)=4 What I wonder, is what could have possibly been your difficulty with this?

lizz · Answer

ahah yeah bobpursley seems like you had difficulty yourself

Alona · Answer

actually bob, it's 658. You subtract freq E by one harmonic 659-1=658