The World of Metals and Non-metals
Sonority: the ringing sound
Compare the sounds different materials make when they are dropped or struck.
Drop a steel spoon, a plate or a coin on the floor. Now drop a piece of coal or wood. The sounds are very different.
Activity 4.2 drops a metal spoon, a coin, a piece of coal and a block of wood from the same height. The spoon and the coin give a ringing sound. Coal and wood give a dull thud.
The property of metals that makes them ring is called sonority. Metals are sonorous.
You hear it every day: the school bell, the temple bell, the jingle of ghungroos, a spoon tapped on a steel thali.
The book also shows a child who cannot see well. She taps her stick as she walks. A ring means metal and a thud means wood, and the difference helps her find her way.
Practise this lesson
Questions that get harder as you improve, a Tutor that helps without giving the answer away, and progress you can see. Free for every learner.
No account, no email address. Opens the real product.