It is easier to tune other instruments with this pure tone.Īnother reason for using the fork shape is that it can then be held at the base without damping the oscillation. When the tuning fork is struck, little of the energy goes into the overtone modes they also die out correspondingly faster, leaving a pure sine wave at the fundamental frequency. By comparison, the first overtone of a vibrating string or metal bar is one octave above (twice) the fundamental, so when the string is plucked or the bar is struck, its vibrations tend to mix the fundamental and overtone frequencies. The reason for this is that the frequency of the first overtone is about 5 2 / 2 2 = 25 / 4 = 6 + 1⁄ 4 times the fundamental (about 2 + 1⁄ 2 octaves above it). The main reason for using the fork shape is that, unlike many other types of resonators, it produces a very pure tone, with most of the vibrational energy at the fundamental frequency. It also has different parts that can differentiate one fork type from another.Motion of an A-440 tuning fork (greatly exaggerated) vibrating in its principal modeĪ tuning fork is a fork-shaped acoustic resonator used in many applications to produce a fixed tone. 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.

Fork tines