Question

Which factors determine the quality of the note?
A. wavelength
B. frequency
C. time period
D. waveform

Answer 1

Hint: Note is a term in physics related to sound or music. It is explained as the occurrence of a pitch. Otherwise we can describe notes as an information about pitch and also the knowledge about the length of the sound. This note does not depend on the frequency of the sound wave, time period of the wave, wavelength of the wave etc. these all may help you to solve this question.

Complete answer:
Two notes of the equal loudness and pitch which are played using different instruments do not produce sound as the same as the waveforms are different and hence the quality of note or the tone will be different. The similar note from different instruments has a variety of qualities as the sounds from each instrument are never pure notes. Pure note is actually meant as having similar frequency. The only one exception is a tuning fork. Instead they include one main note which is the major one and all other smaller notes are known as overtones. The main note or fundamental note is also called the first harmonic. When it is having a frequency $f$, then it will be first harmonic. When an overtone is with frequency $2f$, then it is called the second harmonic. In the same way, if the overtone is with a frequency $3f$ then it is the third harmonic and the series continues. The picture represents the second overtone or the third harmonics, $3f$.

The resultant or the total of all these harmonics will be the waveform and it determines the quality of the note.

So, the correct answer is “Option D”.

Note:
Pitch is defined as the quantity which is useful for how high or low a note will be if played by a musical instrument or sung by a person. This term depends on the frequency of sound. A high frequency will produce a high pitched note and a low pitched note is produced by a low frequency note.