Aim:
To study and find out if music actually affects our heart rate and if so how? I will also attempt to see if the heart rate changes whilst listening to different types of music at different volumes.
Prediction:
I predict that listening to music should actually increase/speed up the heart rate as more blood will be needed by the muscles. I also believe that listening to different types of music at different volumes could also take affect on a persons heart rate. For instance, someone who enjoys listening to classical music will have a higher heart rate than someone who hates it.
Fair Test:
Below are key points, which need to be carried out in order to have a fair test:
- Repeat each part of test twice with an average at the end.
- Keep the volume the same for each part of the experiment.
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The same tone and pitch.
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Keep the surroundings the same.
- Do not do any exercise before the test as your heat rate will already be high.
Safety:
When carrying out the experiment make sure you do not put the volume of the music too high as this could dame your hearing and damage your ear-drum.
Apparatus:
The eqipment that will be needed to carry out the test is:
- CD Player
- CD’s
- Pen and Paper to record the results
Method:
- Take the heart rate for one minute, twice without listening to any music.
- Now take the heart rate for one minute, varying the volume and changing the type of music. Do this twice for each type of music following the reqirements for the fair test.
- Wait until the heart rate has settled back to normal by allowing 30 seconds rest.
- Find the average for each part of the test.
- Record your results.
Results:
Test 1 (no music)-
Test 2 (listening to classical music at 20 decibels)
Test 3 (listening to classical music at 80 decibels)
Test 4 (listening to urban music at 20 decibels)
Test 5 (listening to urban music at 80 decibels)
Graph:
Diagram:
Conclusion:
I have found out through experimenting that my prediction was mostly right as the higher the volume of the music you are listening the higher your heart rate. As I also said that listening to a certain type of music coud change your heart rate. I proved this as I did not truly enjoy classical music so my muscles did not need as much blood, while when listening to urban which I do enjoy my heart rate dramatically increased meaning more blood was need by my muscles. The research in the introduction also agrees with my results as it has been proven by a number of scientists.
Evaluation:
I think that I have answered the question that I was set to find out at the start of the investigation, as I investigated the effects of music on a persons heart rate.
Yes, our experiment was fair as we only had two main variables, which were to keep the same volume throughout the test and repeating each segment of the experiment twice. Everything else in the fair test was carried out consistently.
The improvements that I would make if I were to redo the experiment would be to do the experiment for a third time and to use an electronic heart monitor and make someone else turn the music on and changing its volume, this is because you are moving and your heart rate is slowly but gradually increasing. I would keep everything else the same.
The results were quite accurate. To make it more clear we decided to get an average. The results came out as expected are evident enough to make a firm evaluation that the louder the music the greater the heart rate.