Science Common Sense

142 - How does sound travel through different materials?

Imagine you're throwing a stone into a pool of water. The ripples that form are like sound waves. When you make a sound, like clapping, it makes vibrations that travel through the air as sound waves.

Different materials can affect how sound waves travel. Here's how:

• Air: Sound travels fastest through air, about 768 miles per hour (mph) at sea level.
• Water: Sound travels about 4 times faster in water (3,300 mph) because water molecules can move easily and transfer vibrations quickly.
• Solids (metals, wood): Sound travels slowest in air but speeds up in solids. This is because the molecules in solids can move closer together, helping vibrations travel quickly (about 3,700 mph in steel).
• Empty space: Sound can't travel through empty space (vacuum) because there are no molecules to transfer the vibrations.

So, sound waves move faster when they have something to vibrate through (like water or steel) and slower when they don't (like in air).