Elliot Kim
Sound is a wave of energy that moves through solids, liquids, and gases. The speed of sound is dependent on the properties of the substance through which the wave is traveling. Sound travels fastest through solids, slower through liquids, and slowest through gases. Sound travels through the Earth's core and outer crust via compression waves called P waves, which are the only waves capable of moving through fluids and rock. In contrast, space is a vacuum devoid of matter, and therefore sound does not travel through it. However, in 2022, NASA released an audible recording of sound in space, which was created using X-ray data to represent the way a massive black hole stirs up plasma in the Perseus galaxy cluster.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Speed of sound in air at 20 °C (68 °F) | 343 m/s (1,125 ft/s; 1,235 km/h; 767 mph; 667 kn) |
| Speed of sound in air at 0 °C (32 °F) | 331 m/s (1,086 ft/s; 1,192 km/h; 740 mph; 643 kn) |
| Speed of P waves in the upper crust of the earth | 7 kilometers per second |
| Speed of sound dependency | Temperature, molecular weight, and heat capacity ratio |
| Medium required for sound to travel | Solid, liquid, or gas |
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What You'll Learn
Sound waves and how they travel
Sound waves are created by object vibrations, which produce pressure waves. These pressure waves cause particles in the surrounding medium to vibrate, which in turn disturbs neighbouring particles, and so on. This disturbance creates an outward movement in a wave pattern, similar to the movement of sea water in the ocean.
Sound waves travel through solids, liquids, and gases. However, sound waves cannot travel through a vacuum as there is no medium to carry the disturbances. The speed at which sound travels depends on the medium and its qualities. For example, sound travels faster in water than in air. This is because particles in liquids and solids are closer together than in gases, allowing sound waves to transmit more efficiently and thus faster.
The speed of sound is also dependent on temperature. At 20 °C (68 °F), the speed of sound in air is about 343 m/s, while at 0 °C (32 °F), the speed decreases to about 331 m/s. The speed of sound can also be influenced by the frequency and pressure of the sound wave, with higher frequencies and pressures resulting in faster speeds.
Sound waves have properties such as frequency, wavelength, and amplitude that affect how we perceive them. Frequency determines the pitch of the sound, with higher frequencies corresponding to higher pitches. Wavelength is the distance between successive compressions or rarefactions and is inversely related to frequency. Amplitude refers to the magnitude of the fluctuation of a wave and determines the loudness of the sound.
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The speed of sound
Throughout history, various scientists have attempted to accurately measure the speed of sound. Marin Mersenne, in 1630, used two different methods, obtaining values of 1,380 and 970 Parisian feet per second, respectively. Later, in 1635, Pierre Gassendi calculated a speed of 1,473 Parisian feet per second, while Robert Boyle's measurement was 1,125 Parisian feet per second. The Reverend William Derham, in 1709, published a more precise measurement of 1,072 Parisian feet per second.
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Sound in solids, liquids, and gases
Sound is a vibration of kinetic energy passed from molecule to molecule. The speed of sound is dependent on the properties of the material it travels through. It travels faster through solids than liquids, and faster through liquids than gases. This is because molecules are closer together and more tightly bonded in solids, while gaseous molecules are farther apart.
The speed of sound is also influenced by the density of the medium. Density describes the mass of a substance per volume. A substance that is more dense per volume has more mass per volume. Usually, larger molecules have more mass. If a material is more dense because its molecules are larger, it will transmit sound more slowly.
The speed of sound is faster in solid materials because they have stronger bonds between particles. These bonds are weakest in gases, which is why sound travels through them more slowly. The speed of sound in an ideal gas depends only on its temperature and composition. However, in non-ideal gas behavior, there is a slight dependence on gas pressure. For example, humidity causes the speed of sound to increase by about 0.1%-0.6%.
Sound waves come in two types: compression waves and shear waves. Compression waves can travel through any media, but shear waves can only travel through solids. Compression waves are associated with compression and decompression in the direction of travel, and this is the same process in gases and liquids. Shear waves, or transverse waves, occur due to elastic deformation of the medium perpendicular to the direction of wave travel. These different waves may have different speeds at the same frequency, so they arrive at an observer at different times.
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Sound in space
Sound is a wave of energy that moves through solids, liquids, or gases. It is carried by atoms and molecules, which bump into each other, causing a sound to be heard. The speed of sound depends on the properties of the substance through which the wave is travelling. For example, sound travels most slowly in gases, faster in liquids, and fastest in solids.
However, in space, there are no atoms or molecules to carry sound waves, so there is no sound. Space is a vacuum, which means it contains almost no matter. While it is a near-perfect vacuum, some sounds can be detected from extremely low-density matter in deep space. NASA, for example, has released sounds from the black hole at the center of the Perseus galaxy cluster. These sounds are pressure waves emitted from the black hole, causing ripples in the star cluster's hot gas.
The absence of sound in space also means no echoes. An echo occurs when a sound wave hits a hard, flat surface and bounces back in the direction it came from.
It is worth noting that if humans were able to travel to our nearest neighboring planets, Venus and Mars, their voices would sound different due to the thickness of the atmosphere. On Mars, the thin air would make a human voice sound tinny and hollow, like a piccolo. On Venus, with its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere, a human voice would have a much deeper pitch, similar to a booming bass guitar.
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How animals sense sound
The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it moves through an elastic medium. The speed of sound is dependent on the properties of the substance through which the wave is travelling. For example, in gases, the density contributes to compressibility, which is influenced by temperature, molecular weight, and heat capacity ratio.
Animals use sound in a variety of ways, and their ability to hear is connected to the shape, size, and style of their ears. Some animals, like bats, dolphins, shrews, some whales, and some birds, use echolocation to navigate and sense their surroundings in the dark. This process involves emitting a sound and then listening to the rebounding sound waves to identify the location of objects.
Additionally, animals that have co-evolved with humans, such as dogs, or those that are physiologically similar, like apes, can interpret the tone, mood, or emotion conveyed in sounds. For instance, dogs can distinguish between higher and lower pitches within the normal vocal range, associating higher pitches with happiness or playfulness and lower pitches with sternness or anger.
The structure of an animal's ear plays a crucial role in determining its range of hearing. The cochlea, a fluid-filled spiral-shaped structure, converts sound vibrations into electrical signals for the brain to interpret. Larger animals with bigger ears tend to hear lower frequencies better, while smaller animals with more compact ears are typically more sensitive to higher frequencies.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, sound can travel through the Earth. P-waves are compression waves that move like sound waves through the air and can travel through fluids and rock.
Sound is a wave of energy that moves through solids, liquids, and gases. Sound waves are created when energy is released, causing air molecules to bump into their neighbours, which then bump into their neighbours, and so on.
The speed of sound depends on the properties of the substance through which the wave is travelling. In the Earth's upper crust, P-waves travel at about 7 kilometres per second.
