Standing waves are formed on a guitar string when traveling waves reflect off where the string is tied down or pressed against the fingerboard. The document asks what is the longest wavelength standing wave pattern that can fit on a guitar string that is 1.20 meters long. The answer is that the longest wavelength would be 120 centimeters when there is only one node on the string.

1. Learning Object 6
Sizhuang Liu
20091147
Standing waves on a string (instrument) are traveling down the string reflect off a
point where the string is tied down or pressed against the fingerboard. The entire
series of distortions may be superimposed on the figure below, it shows different
moments time using traces of different colors or line styles. What is the wavelength
of the longest wavelength standing wave pattern that can fit on this guitar string?
Express your answer in centimeters.
Answer:
In the book page 431, Table 15-2, we can see that when there is only one node (n=1),
the wave will have its longest wavelength, since there must be at least one anti-node
enclosed between two nodes.
so, wavelength = 1.20 m or 120 cm