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Hoover and Butler, like other teachers and schools featured in our photo project about what kinds of cool technology kids have in classrooms, are looking for unique ways to help students understand complicated points. That's why he pulled out the Reuben's Tube and the "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack.
Hoover played the music through the tube to make the flames jump, showing the students the effect the sound waves have on the environment around them.
“(These show) things you wouldn’t normally be able to see in music and sound," Hoover said. "I’ve got the oscilloscope next to it with the microphone so they can make the connection.”
The Reuben’s Tube looks like a silver pipe about four inches in diameter and six feet long. It has tiny holes on the top that run the length of the tube. One end of the tube is sealed, and a sound speaker is placed in the other. Natural gas is then run into the tube, and the gas from the tiny holes is lit. The tube now resembles a burner in a gas grille. Different tones are played through the speaker and the sound waves suddenly become visible in the height of the flames.
As the tone changes, a wave pattern can clearly be seen along the length of the tube. Students ooh and aah. The pattern changes as the tone changes. The sound is changed to a bass kick drum and snare causing the flames to jump to the beat.
Hoover continues to add more complex music and the flaming wave forms become less recognizable due to the number of tones being played at one time.
“Musical instruments, strings or columns have this problem of not being a nice wave, they’re all jumbled together,“ Hoover says as the theme song from "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" plays through the tube and jumbles the flames for the end of class.
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