http://ccrma.stanford.edu/marl/Coltman/

Go to "Published Papers" and then look for the pdf file "Effect of material on flute tone quality."

The other material and links on this site are also very interesting.

Yeah, I know. But I can`t believe.

Notice that the heads on those were made of Delrin. The headjoint on the flute accounts for nearly all of the tonal sound.

For what it is worth, `Delrin` is Du Pont`s trade name for a polymer (plastic) called Acetyl, with molecular weight greater than 15000.

It is commonly used as an engineering plastic, eg for clarinet bodies.

Arak,

I think the word you`re looking for is poly-acetate, not acetyl. Acetyl by itself is actually a branch of the molecule. I could explain to everyone exactly what that is, but it would be just painful to write it. I assume you are also referring to grams per mole (g/mol) when you mention the molecular mass.

*Note: just so people who don`t know what a g/mol is, I`ll give you a reference point: the molecular mass of water (H2O) is 18.02 g/mol. When you compare that to the molecular mass of the particular type of poly-acetate that Arak was talking about, you`ll see what I mean.

I had my chemistry final today, so I`m in a chemistry mood right now. When I saw you talking about that, I just had to jump in. Carry on, guys.

Thomas

I think the word you`re looking for is poly-acetate, not acetyl. Acetyl by itself is actually a branch of the molecule.

No, Thomas.

I made a speling mistake, which our spelling police(woman) here did not pick up! It should have been Acetal.

It is a heterochain polymer.... Basically polyoxymethylene (POM), -CH2-O-CH2-O-CH2-0-, which may be thought of as a PE chain in which O atoms replace certain CH2 groups. POM and closely related materials are important engineering plastics comonly known as Acetals.

" ...I assume you are also referring to grams per mole (g/mol) when you mention the molecular mass..."

No, Thomas, I was not talking about gram/mole. I was refering to the VERY comon chemistry technical term - which I am surprised, with all your knowledge, you do not recognise - "molecular weight", otherwise known as "relative molecular mass", which is the ratio of the average mass per molecule of a specific isotopic composition of a substance to 1/12 the mass of a carbon-12 atom.

Perhaps some more study was in order before that final, but all the best for you results. :-)