YOU WILL NEED
• Identical sized milk
bottles
• Water
• A spoon
• Measuring jugs
(optional)
HOW TO DO IT 1) Fill each bottle up with a
different amount of water.
2) Blow across the top of the
bottle or tap it with a spoon
to create a sound.
3) Order the bottles by pitch,
from lowest to highest.
4) Challenge yourself to create
a tune!
MUSICAL MILK BOTTLES
How can we create musical sounds using water?
INVESTIGATE
Using 8 bottles, see if
you can create an
octave scale.
How does the amount
of water affect its
pitch?
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
The pitch of a note refers to how high or low it is. When we tap each bottle we cause the glass to vibrate, creating a sound. The pitch varies depending on the size of the bottle
and the amount of water in it. The more water in the bottle, the slower the glass vibrates and the
lower the pitch. The less water, the faster the glass vibrates, the higher
the pitch.