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In which Medium Sound Travels Faster?

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: November 9th, 2023

Sound travels faster in a solid medium than air, fluid, or vacuum. Sound moves more rapidly in solids because in solids the particles are close to each other and, therefore, can transmit the vibrations faster. Sound is produced by vibrations that move through a medium (solid, liquid, or gas) in all directions. Since they need a medium to travel through, sound waves are also known as mechanical waves.

Medium in which Sound Travels Faster

Sound travels most slowly through gases because the distance between the molecules of a gas is more compared to the distance between the molecules in solids. This makes the solids denser and the gases least dense. Talking about liquid, the distance between the molecules is shorter than in gases but longer than in solids.

  • Sound travels second fast in liquids. The density of liquids is more than gases but less than solids.
  • Hence, the speed of sound in different mediums can be defined as solids> liquids> gases.
  • A fundamental characteristic of the substance is the speed of sound, which is dependent on the medium through which the waves travel.
  • Isaac Newton made the first significant attempt to measure the speed of sound.
  • According to him, the square root of the pressure on a given substance divided by its density determines the speed of sound in that substance.
  • Sound is a vibration that propagates as longitudinal waves through the medium.
  • Accordingly, sound waves are waves in which the medium’s particle vibrations run parallel to the wave’s path of transmission.

Summary:

In Which Medium Sound Travels Faster?

Sound travels Faster through solids compared to air, liquid, or a vacuum. Since solids’ particles are closer to one another and may transmit vibrations more quickly as a result, sound travels through them more quickly. Sound waves also go by the name mechanical waves since they require a medium to move through. Furthermore, sound travels with a little less speed through liquids and even lesser speed through gases due to the space between the molecules.

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