Guitar String Lab

Goal: 
To investigate the guitar and its frequencies.

Materials:

Microphone with computer

Guitar

Meter stick

Background:

• Fundamental frequency: The lowest frequency present in the sound spectrum.

• Sound spectrum/ FFT graph: A graph of the frequencies present in a sound wave.

Process:

Part 1 we measured the Hz of an open string on Logger Pro and looked for the lowest frequency. Then we measured the frequency of every fret until we found a frequency that was twice the original.

Part 2 we measured the actual lengths of the strings with a ruler

Part 3 To match two strings, we chose the middle two, G and D. We found that if we held the 5th fret of the D string that they matched.

Data:

  For this lab, we used the the low E string

Open	88
1st  Fret	92
2nd Fret	100
3rd Fret	105
4th Fret	110
5th Fret	117
6th Fret	124
7th Fret	130
8th Fret	140
9th Fret	147
10th Fret	154
11th Fret	166
12th Fret	180

To match two strings, we chose the middle two, G and D. We found that if we held the 5^th fret of the D string that they matched.

String Lengths

Open	64.5cm
1st  Fret	60.7cm
2nd Fret	57.4cm
3rd Fret	54.1cm
4th Fret	54.1cm
5th Fret	48.3cm
6th Fret	45.5cm
7th Fret	43.0cm
8th Fret	40.6cm
9th Fret	38.4cm
10th Fret	36.3cm
11th Fret	34.2cm
12th Fret	32.3cm

Equation = Hz = .95/ L

Conclusion: 
In this lab we learned how guitars work to achieve different frequencies. The length of the guitar string is key in the frequency. Also we learned how changing the length will eventually lead you to the same frequency as before but of a different octave.