So they had that thing that when the tuning fork end was put to resonate, the hole thing would resonate like pushing a child on a swing. on the other end of the rod they had other shape that it would probably vibrate at the same frequency. The old egyptians had some staffs called 'was scepter' that is a long metal rod (which if made in steal would have a longitudinal natural vibration of about 4~5 KHZ) and in one end of the rod they had a tuning fork, with the prongs short enough to vibrate at about 4~5 KHZ. The most wonderful about the tuning fork is that dampening the longitudinal wave in the handle does not stop the tuning fork oscillation. That is why you put the handle over a surface and can hear the sound much better, because the tuning fork sends the longitudinal wave through the handle. So in the middle of the 'U' shape of the tuning fork the two waves collide and make a standing wave which travels down through the handle. But the thing is that when something bends it is doing it like a wave. The 2 prongs are in a transversal movement (bending towards each other). It also has different parts that can differentiate one fork type from another.Well, as Kyle said the sound produced by a tuning fork (or any other source) is longitudinal.īut, the tuning fork itself does both, transversal and longitudinal. The fork is one of the utensils that we tend to overlook, but as you have discovered after reading this article, it is packed in history. Eventually, four became the most practical number of tines in a fork. This led fork manufacturers to experiment with different numbers of fork tines. In the past, most forks only had two tines, but many diners complained about using them because they’d accidentally hurt themselves using those forks. Some fork types have two others have three or four. The number of tines differs depending on the type of fork. The neck is the part of the fork which widens from the handle to the tines. The curved part of the fork is called the back. The closed end of the slot is referred to as the root. The space between two tines is called a slot. It is also the part of the fork that we use in spearing food. The tine is the pointed or elongated prong on a fork. This is the metal or wood part of the fork which you hold on to in order to handle the utensil. Perhaps the part that many of us are familiar with is the handle.

There are various types of forks, but, as mentioned earlier, there are typically seven parts of a fork. The individual fork, in particular, first had three prongs before eventually having four (more on that later in this article. It was only during the 17th and 18th centuries when the fork acquired its current look. He was impressed that it helped him in eating while wearing ruffled collars, which were fashionable during that period. One legend has it that French King Henry III discovered it during one of his trips to Venice.

It is also possible that the first pasta, which was created sometime in the 11th century, was eastern with the use of a fork.ĭuring the Middle Ages, the fork had two prongs, as mentioned or cited in many inventories of French royalties. It was said to be a tool used as a cutting aid. when the first mention of a fork was recorded in Venice, Italy. The name fork is said to originate from the Latin word furca, which means pitchfork.īut it wasn’t until the year 1000 A.D. It is believed that the earliest use of the fork was during the Roman Empire, thanks to its advanced metallurgy industry. However, the knife wasn’t known in the ancient Greek civilization, where people mostly used spoons along with their hands. The spoon came when humans learned to scoop up liquid. The knife, for instance, is derived from the oldest human tool, the hand ax. History of the ForkĬompared to the spoon and the knife, the fork is relatively younger. Continue reading to know more about the fork, its history, and its parts. This is just one of the interesting things about this utensil.

Yes, you read it right- the diminutive fork has seven parts. You may have used it countless times before, but do you know it has seven parts? The fork is something we’ve been using since we were kids.

Prongs on a fork