Re: How well do different materials conduct sound when using a tin can telephon

Dear Sara
one of the fascinations of science is that not everything can be found in 
old books (or the internet) but has to be tried out ! The research idea of 
your teacher sounds interesting. Why don't you just try ? 

Here some points that might help you:
(1)In order to compare the different strings you should alway take a 
certain length. Maybe it is worth thinking to connect one tin to a 
loudspeaker (but how?). That would give a well defined input.
(2) The strings need to have a good tention but on the other hand it 
shouldn't be too thick. That favours "strong" materials.
(3) I would expect "stiff" materials like thin metal (no plastic 
insulation) wire to be the best "transmitters". In soft strings like rubber 
too much energy is wasted internally ("is dissipated")

Enjoy your research project !