Science Common Sense

20 - How do sound waves travel?

Sound waves travel through the air (or other materials like water or solids) by making tiny vibrations. Here's how it works:

  1. When something makes a noise (like you clap your hands), it creates energy.
  2. This energy makes the air molecules around it vibrate back and forth.
  3. These vibrating air molecules bump into other air molecules, making them vibrate too.
  4. This chain reaction keeps going, with the vibrations moving through the air as a wave.
  5. When the vibrations reach your ear, they make your eardrum vibrate, and you hear the sound.

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