• Question: how far does sound travel and how fast

    Asked by to Nat, Nate, Roberto, Sam, Sarah on 16 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Sarah Casewell

      Sarah Casewell answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      Sounds travels at ~343 m/s in the air. Sound is a longitudinal wave, which means it travels as the air bunches up in front of it like this:

      – – – – – – ——- – – – – – – –

      Sound has to have a medium to travel in – it can’t travel in a vacuum (which is why in space no-one can hear you scream!). This also means that sounds travels much more quickly in a dense medium. The speed of sound in water is 1484 m/s and it’s higher in iron!!

    • Photo: Nate Bastian

      Nate Bastian answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      In air, sound travels at about 340 m/s. This is about a million times slower than light. However, sound travels a bit faster (and further) in solids and liquids. In the oceans, sound travels about 5 times faster than in the air.

      How far sound travels is related to the frequency of the sound. Very low frequency sounds (i.e. deep voices) travel further than high frequency sounds. Whales can “sing” in extremely low frequencies, and can be heard by other whales thousands of miles away.

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