Why a sound wave travels faster in a solid than in a gas?

Answer 1

sound travels through a gas quicker because in a solid all the particles are very close to each other so it makes it harder for the sound to travel through it where as in a gas all the particles are spread out so it is easier for the sound to travel through it .

Answer 2

Compressibility: solids have less of it while gases have more. This is related to the density, or a measure of how close the particles involved are.

When you put energy into moving a solid, the solid particles adjacent to that canot move very far without either forcing distortion in the particles of the solid or making further movement in the solid. Because distorting a solid is usually a lot harder than simply moving it, the wavefront will move immediately through the solid, and hence travel quicker.

But in a gas, the particles are very far apart and not firmly attached. they can move around and be compressed much, much much more easily than in a solid. This means the particles will "bunch up" in pressure peaks, and these peaks will slowly move onto adjacent particles, where they will be again compressed and the whole process continues. Thus, the wavefront moves much more slowly in a gas.

Note that if the gas is pressurised a lot, the sound will travel quicker, because the particles are much closer and there is less ability for them to move around each other without transmitting the wave onwards.

Answer 3

Sound waves would travel faster through solids than liquids and gases, because the molecules in a solid are packed more tightly unlike liquids and gases which have their molecules spread out. Sound waves would travel slower through gases because their molecules are very far away from each other unlike liquids which have its molecules closer but not to close.

Answer 4

sound is generated mainly due to the mediums molecule vibration in a pattern. In solids, the molecules are more closely packed when compared to gases. Hence, the vibration occurs faster and hence the sound is tramsmitted sooner.

Answer 5

(i) In a solid medium, the molecules will be more.

As the molecules are more, it increases friction.

(ii)As there is more friction, it reduces the speed of the sound waves.

(iii)As in the case of gas , the molecules will be less and reduces friction.

(iii) As there is less friction, the speed increases.

Answer 6

as the molecular structure un solids and liquids is closer together so the sound can pass through quicker

Answer 7

bcoz in solids the molecules are much closer than gases thts why the closer the molecules the faster the sound travels.

Answer 8

solid object have a very high tension, which is why sound travels faster. It's not the density that increases the sound speed, but the tension.