Question

Sound waves travel from a vibrating guitar string to the ear of the listener by moving air particles, in what way are the air particles moving

Answer 1

A sound wave is delivered by a vibrating object. As a guitar string vibrates, it sets encompassing air atoms into vibrational movement. The recurrence at which these air particles vibrate is equivalent to the recurrence of vibration of the guitar string.

The forward and backward vibrations of the encompassing air atoms make a pressure wave which ventures outward from its source. This pressure wave comprises of compressions and rarefactions. The compressions are districts of high pressure, where the air molecules are packed into a little area of space.

Answer 2

A sound wave is a mechanical and longitudinal wave (that moves in all directions). It travels from the guitar string to the listener's ear when the molecules in the air vibrate back and forth and move away from the vibrating source in a wave like pattern. 

These waves compress and refract (expand) while the sound travels through a particular medium. 

Medium that is any substance is quite necessary to make the waves travel. As sound cannot travel in a vacuum because there are no particles to create sound.