Speed of Sound in Different Medium

The speed of sound depends on the properties of the medium through which it travels. The speed of sound decreases when we go from a solid to a gaseous state. In any medium, as we increase the temperature, the speed of sound increases. Sound waves are mechanical waves that can only pass through matter. The medium is the matter in which the waves pass. Let’s learn what is the speed of sound in different mediums.

Speed of Sound in Solid

Sound is nothing more than a vibration caused by particle collisions; one molecule colliding with the next, and so on. Solids are much denser than liquids or gases. This suggests that in solids, molecules are closer to each other than in liquids, and in liquids, molecules are closer to each other than in gases. Because of their near proximity due to mass, they will collide very easily. It takes less time for a stable molecule to collide with its neighboring molecule. Because of this advantage, the speed of sound in a solid is greater than that of a gas. The speed of sound in solid is 6000 m/s, while the speed of sound in steel is 5100 m/s. Another fascinating finding about sound speed is that sound moves 35 times faster in diamonds than in the air.

Speed of Sound in Liquid

A liquid’s density is higher than a gas’s density. As a result, the distances between molecules in liquids are greater than in solids but smaller than in gases. As a result, the speed of sound in liquids is intermediate between the speeds of sound in solids and gases.

Speed of Sound in Gas

When sound approaches a liquid or solid, the speed of sound is independent of the density of the medium. Since gases expand to fill a given vacuum, their density is very uniform regardless of the type of gas. This is obviously not the case for solids and liquids.

Speed of Sound in Water

The speed of sound in water exceeds that of air. Alternatively, sound moves quicker in water than in air. In water, the speed of sound is 1480 m/s. It’s also worth noting that the speed of purified water will range from 1450 to 1498 m/s, while the speed of seawater ranges from 1531 m/s while the temperature is between 20 °C and 25 °C.

Speed of Sound in Vacuum

Since there are no particles in a vacuum, the speed of sound is zero meters per second. When there are ions for the propagation of these sound waves, they fly through a medium. Sound waves do not propagate in the vacuum since it is an empty space.

Table for Speed of Sound in Different Mediums

The table below shows the speed of sound in various media. In general, sound waves move the fastest through solids, then liquids, and finally gases. In gases, the speed of sound is equal to the square root of the absolute temperature (measured in Kelvin), but it is unaffected by the frequency of the sound wave, strain, or density of the medium. However, none of the gases we encounter in everyday life are ideal gases, and as a result, their properties vary slightly.

Read More

• Production and Propagation of Sound
• Refraction of Sound
• Noise Pollution

Speed of Sound as the name suggests is the speed of the sound in any medium. We know that sound is a form of energy that is caused due to the vibration of the particles and sound travels in the form of waves. A wave is a vibratory disturbance that transfers energy from one point to another point without the actual transfer of matter. Hence, when we speak the sound from our vocal cords reaches to listener’s ear in the form of a wave.

Since the sound travels from the source point to the destination point within a time period, this encourages us to calculate the speed of the sound with which it travels. Also, we know that Sound is a mechanical wave hence its speed of propagation varies in different materials. In this article, we will learn, what is sound, what is the definition of Speed of Sound and the Speed of Sound with which it propagates in different media.