Choice of the Striking Point in the Pianoforte

Abstract

IN his interesting letter dealing with the above subject in NATURE for October 17, p. 575, Mr. R. N. Ghosh appears to suggest that there is disagreement between S. K. Datta's results and my own, This apparent disagreement is due to a difference in the relative masses of the hammers used. Quantitative experimental results so far published are: where a=distance of struck point from nearer bridge, l=length of string, m=“mass” of hammer, and M=mass of string. From this table it is clear that as the relative mass of the hammer increases, the position of the impact giving the greatest maximum amplitude of the fundamental moves nearer to the bridge. There are other maxima and minima which become fewer and less pronounced as the relative mass of the hammer is reduced, until for the mass ratio m/M=1/2.53 there is only one minimum and two maxima for the whole length of the string. The maxima are greater and the minima are less the nearer they are to a bridge. Reference is also made to the work of G. H. Berry, but in this case the mass of the hammer is not given.