# Harmonic content of a plucked string

1. Nov 18, 2009

### suneilr

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data
I was carrying out an experiment looking at the harmonic content of a plucked string. The equation normally used is the one given below which suggests that certain harmonics are supressed depending on the plucking position p where p is some fraction of the length and h is the height of the pluck. eg the third harmonic should be suppressed when plucked at p=1/3. However we did not observe any harmonics being suppressed no matter where we plucked.

2. Relevant equations

$A_n=\frac{2h}{n^2 \pi^2} \frac{1}{p(p-1) } sin(n\pi p)$

3. The attempt at a solution
I thought that maybe the fact that the initial shape of the string is more bowed rather than triangular, or maybe the discontinuity at the kink might affect the harmonic content, but I'm not really sure what assumptions were made in deriving the above relation. Any thoughts would be much appreciated, thanks

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