On the acoustics of tuning forks

Tuning forks can vibrate in many different modes in which the tines move either in the plane or perpendicular to the plane of the fork. Symmetrical modes can be modeled by the motion of two cantilever beams, antisymmetrical modes by the motion of a beam with free ends. A tuning fork vibrating in its fundamental mode is approximately a linear quadrupole sound source whose strength can be increased by use of a baffle or by touching the stem to a soundboard. The motion of the stem includes strong components at both the fundamental frequency and its second harmonic. Slight alterations in a tuning fork can enhance or suppress either of these components. At large amplitudes, the tines vibrate nonsinusoidally, the nth harmonic increasing approximately as the nth power of the fundamental.