How A Kazoo Makes Sounds

Difficulty

Easy

Cost

Minimal

Safety Issues

None

Material Availability

Common

Approximate Time

Minutes to construct

Objective

To demonstrate how vibration makes sound

Materials

• Cardboard tube, such as an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll
• Piece of wax paper
• Rubber band
• Something to poke, cut or drill a hole into the tube 

Introduction

The kazoo is based on the physics of how vibration makes sound. With a simple kazoo, humming causes a membrane (the wax paper) to vibrate.

Photos

Photos/drawings can be provided. A single photo or drawing of a tube kazoo can be used to show how it is made.

Research Questions

• What causes sound?
• Why is wax paper needed?
• Why does wax paper work better than plastic wrap?

Terms

• Vibrate: to shake or pulse
• Molecules: very small particles
• Membrane: a thin surface

Concepts

When you hum into a kazoo, the humming makes a membrane vibrate. For this simple kazoo, the membrane is the wax paper. Humming into the tube makes the wax paper vibrate. That causes the sound you hear. The same thing happens with the strings of a guitar, or the speaker of a radio.

Questions to Start Background Research

• What is sound?
• How is the kazoo different from other musical instruments?
• How is it the same?

Experimental Procedure

1. Gather the materials.
2. Cut or tear a piece of wax paper large enough to fit over the end of the tube.
3. Squeeze it over the end so that the wax paper is tight and flat.
4. Use a rubber band to hold the wax paper on the tube.
5. Make a hole in the tube near the rubber band.
6. Hum (do not blow) into the open end.

Bibliography

1. http://www.sciencekidsathome.com/science_topics/what_is_sound.html#more
2. http://www.kazoos.com/historye.htm
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazoo
4. http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/phy03.sci.phys.howmove.lp_sound/