The old “two cans and a string” technique (or better yet, “two paper cups and a string”) really does work. The key is to make sure that the string is tight between the two cups, and this normally means that the distance is limited and the two people have to be connected to each other by a straight line.

How could you stop the sound Travelling in a tin can telephone?

Make a hole in the bottom of each can with a nail and hammer. String a long piece of string from one can to the other. Tie knots in the ends of the string so the string doesn’t pop out.

Which material is best for string telephone?

Suggested Materials

  • Different kinds of cups (paper, plastic, Styrofoam, metal cans, large, small, etc.)
  • Several different kinds of string (cotton, kite string, thread, gimp, dental floss, etc.)
  • Paper clips (100)
  • Scissors.
  • Sharp pencils or small nails (for poking holes in the cups)

Will twine work for a tin can phone?

Cotton string, fishing line and ordinary twine also work.

Will yarn work for a tin can phone?

Often, we can’t hear the sound because the string is too loose. We used a piece of yarn and two tin cans, why isn’t it working? Yarn has a lot of loose threads that works as a vibration dampener. A taut string will carry the vibration much more cleanly.

What did you discover on the experiment about string tin cans telephone?

Tin can phones work due to how sound waves move through the air. When the can’s string is stretched tightly, it gives the sound wave vibrations a straight path to travel down, so the sound is carried stronger through the string and directly into the other person’s ear.

Does the telephone work better when the string is tight or loose?

The bottom of the cup passes the sound waves to the string, and so on to the other cup. You can hear surprisingly far using a string telephone if help the right way! If the string is kept tight, the sound waves will travel. If the string is loose, the sound is less.

What happens when you speak into a metal can?

When you speak into the can, your voice creates air vibrations that travel into the can, vibrate the bottom of the can, which in turn vibrates the string all the way over to the other can, in turn vibrating the other can’s bottom, then the air again.