At Bindu's school, a brass plate is still struck with a small hammer to mark the end of each period
At Bindu's school, a brass plate is still struck with a small hammer to mark the end of each period. Bindu says it's made of metal because metals ring when they are struck. Govind says the material doesn't matter much — a wooden plate of exactly the same size would ring just as loudly if you hit it hard enough. Who is right?
Who do you think is right? Pick one.
The answer: Bindu is right, metals are sonorous — they ring when struck
Why
Govind is correct that hitting harder makes a louder sound — that part of his idea is true for almost anything. But loud and ringing are not the same. Strike a wooden plate and you get a short, dull knock that dies away at once, however hard you hit. Strike a metal plate and it keeps vibrating, giving a clear, long-lasting ring. That ability to ring is called sonority, and it is a typical property of metals — which is exactly why bells, ghantis, cymbals and gongs are made of brass, bronze or steel and not of wood. Test: hold a steel spoon and then a wooden spoon loosely by the tip and tap each against the edge of a table — one rings, the other just knocks. Bindu is right: the bell is metal because metals are sonorous, and no amount of force would make a wooden plate ring like that.
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