Sound Waves

Without sound waves hearing the guitar would be impossible.  Guitars utilize many properties of waves to produce different sounds and effects.  Sound is produced when something vibrates sending waves through the air that your ears receive and allow you to hear the sound. “A wave can be described as a disturbance that travels through a medium, transporting energy from one location to another location.” (Henderson)  One of the best examples of this is a slinky.  If the first coil of a slinky is pulled and released, it bumps into the second coil.  The second coil then moves in the same direction of the initial force and bumps into the third coil.  These series of interactions carry on all the way down to the end of the slinky; sound waves act in the same way.  When a guitar string is plucked it will return to its normal, or equilibrium, position, as it returns it pushes the air particles next to it.  These air particles push the particles next to them, and they push the particles next to them, this is how sound waves travel through air. Sound waves act as both mechanical and longitudinal waves.  “A mechanical wave is a wave which is not capable of transmitting its energy through a vacuum. Mechanical waves require a medium in order to transport their energy from one location to another.” (Henderson)  The sound cannot be transmitted through a vacuum, like in outer space, because there are no air particles in space to interact with.  Sound waves also act as longitudinal waves, “a longitudinal wave is a wave in which particles of the medium move in a direction parallel to the direction which the wave moves.” (Henderson)  When the slinky is pulled, the waves move in the same, or parallel, direction as it was first pulled. Looking at a guitar, it’s easy to see how these waves are produced.  Mechanical waves are created when the string pushes the air particles next to it.  This creates a chain reaction causing the energy to travel from particle to particle until the energy is absorbed.  As stated earlier, these waves cannot travel through a vacuum because there are no air particles to interact with.  These are also longitudinal waves because the energy is traveling in the same direction as the originating force. Waves are an important part of enjoying a guitar.  If energy could not move in this way then the sound would not be able reach your ear.

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