Did you know that if you take a radio to the moon, you can't hear it, or any sound at all? In order to understand these phenomena, you must learn about the nature of sound.
How sounds are formed
A moving bell, a drum, or a harp string are some examples of objects that produce sounds. What do these objects have in common? They all vibrate to produce sounds. When an object vibrates, it transmits energy to the particles of matter around it, causing them to vibrate in such a way that a series of depressions and rarefactions emanate outward from the source.
The sound produced when matter vibrates moves in a longitudinal wave.
Any object that vibrates produces sound. For example, when your vocal cords vibrate they produce sound. When you speak, the air coming out of your lungs will sound at the same time. The two sounds move at the same speed. The speed of sound is determined by the temperature, elasticity and density of the medium in which the sound is moving.
Temperature
Temperature is an important characteristic that determines the speed of sound. At low temperatures, particle motion becomes slower. The particles move with more difficulty and take longer to return to their original position. Therefore, sound moves slowly at low temperatures and faster at high temperatures.
In 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager set a historic record by becoming the first person to "break the sound barrier," flying faster than the speed of sound. His plane flew at a speed of 293 meters per second. But if the speed of sound in air averages 340 m/sec (faster than the speed of his plane), how did he "break the sound barrier?" Yeager traveled at an altitude of 12,000 meters. At that altitude the temperature is so low that the speed of sound is 290 m/sec, or 3 m/sec less than Yeager's speed. On land, a vehicle has to move 50 m/sec. faster to break the sound barrier.
Elasticity and Density
Most sounds reach you through the air, but sound waves can move through any medium. For example, sound waves vibrate the wood particles in a piano. Those are the vibrations you feel when you lean on the piano.
What determines the speed of sound when moving in a medium, whether solid, gaseous or liquid?
Sourece
The velocity depends on the elastic properties of the medium. If the particles of the substance become turbid, they should easily return to their normal position.
To understand better, think about the following. If you run 1 kilometer on a paved road, you can do it quickly and without getting too tired. Something similar happens when sound moves through materials in which the particles are rigidly glued to each other and quickly return to their original position. Sound moves faster in materials such as road pavement. But what if you ran the same distance on the shore of a beach, where your feet sink into the sand and you must put more energy into each step you take? You would get too tired. The same thing happens with sound waves when they move through materials with less elasticity; they move slowly and lose energy more quickly.
Solids are more elastic than liquids and gases. Particles in a solid do not move too far apart and bounce back quickly as the rarefaction compressions of the sound wave pass through. Therefore, sound moves more quickly through solids than through liquids or gases. Most liquids do not have much elasticity. Therefore, sound does not transmit through them very well. Gases are even less elastic than liquids and are the worst transmitters of sound waves.
Source
In materials in the same state, the speed of sound is slower in the denser material because the denser medium with greater mass per volume has more inertia. Its particles do not move as fast as those of a less dense material.
In dense metals such as lead and gold, the speed of sound is lower than in metals such as steel or aluminum. Lead and gold are also less elastic, which is one of the reasons why the speed of sound in these metals is slower.
Hello friend, actually another very educational delivery that you share with us, where you describe important characteristics of sound in relation to its propagation speed depending on the material or elastic medium through which it travels, such as air, liquid or solid. Thank you for sharing this extraordinary delivery. Best regards.
Hello friend, thank you for reading. It is gratifying to know that you enjoyed reading my publication.