guitar physics

guitar physics

Building a Guitar for Physics class?

Please help me! I am the most not creative person in my class. Recently, we had a lab that requires me to build an instrument. I want to build a simple guitar. The lab instructs that different string length makes different sounds and I do not understand this because lets say that i make my guitar out of dental floss. It would not make a sound. right? Just because my teacher knows how the physics work in instruments does not mean we do. Most teacher look at it only from their point of view and not the student’s. When I tell her I don’t understand, she gets frustrated. Can you please give me a description on how to build a simple guitar and what to make it from?

The frequency (tone) of a string depends on its length, mass (linear density) and tension. The strings can all be of the same length if the mass and tension are different. For the formula, see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrating_string

Metal wire will have the highest mass, but will also withstand the highest tension. So metal wire (piano wire) is probably the best thing to use.

EDIT: Nylon fishing line is also a good choice. Pick heavier line for the low note strings.

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