Steel carries a tap at about 5000 m/s; air carries it at about 340 m/s. Why should the material matter that much?
The answer sits in how each medium's particles are connected to the particles beside them.
In steel, the particles are packed close and strongly bonded to the particles beside them.
In air, the particles are far apart, and one only passes a vibration on when it happens to collide with the next.
A sound wave is a vibration passed from particle to particle through the medium.
In steel, each particle is tightly coupled to the next, so a vibration passes on almost at once.
In air, the coupling is loose, so each handoff of the vibration takes longer.
Liquids sit between the two. Their particles touch but are not locked in place, so sound in water is faster than in air and slower than in steel.
Sound travels faster through a wooden door than through the air beside it. Explain why.
The wood's particles are tightly coupled to the particles beside them.
The air's particles are far apart and loosely coupled.
Tightly coupled particles pass a vibration on more quickly.
The vibration crosses the wood faster than it crosses the air, so sound is faster in the door.
Sound travels faster in water than in air. Explain why, using the particles.
Water's particles touch the particles beside them; air's particles are far apart.
The touching particles are more tightly coupled, so they pass vibrations on more quickly.
The vibration passes from particle to particle faster in water, so sound is faster there.
Why does sound travel faster in a steel rail than in the air around it?
Why does sound travel faster in pool water than in air?
Pim says: 'Sound crosses a steel beam faster than air because the beam's tightly coupled particles pass the vibration on more quickly.' Is Pim correct?
A whale's call travels faster through seawater than a birdcall travels through air. Which option gives the reason?
Sound travels slowest in gases. Which feature of a gas explains that?
Four materials are described. Through which does sound travel fastest?