How do you mimic the buzzing of a mosquito?

You simply do this with vibrations.

What do you need?

• Balloon

• Nut (the metallic hexagonal one)

Getting to work!

Step 1: Insert the nut into the balloon.

Step 2: Inflate the balloon.

Step 3: Squeeze the spout of the balloon and gently rotate the balloon. What do you hear?

Step 4: What do you think will happen if you spin the balloon faster? Will the sound be higher or lower? Try it out.

What's happening?

The nut in the balloon makes a buzzing sound. The faster you spin the balloon, the higher the buzzing sounds.

Why though?

A nut has six corners. When a corner collides with the wall of the balloon, the balloon vibrates. Coincidence is, that sound is also made up of vibrations. The vibrations of the balloon vibrate through the air and those vibrations go to the eardrum in your ear. This is how you hear sound. 

If you spin quickly, the balloon also vibrates faster and the buzzing sounds higher. If you spin slowly, the balloon vibrates slower and the buzzing sounds lower.

Where else do you encounter that?

Did you know that mosquitoes buzz so that males find females more easily?Mosquitoes obviously don't make a sound with a balloon. They buzz by flapping their wings very quickly!