Speed of Sound in Air
In our daily life when we talk, the medium between the speaker and the listener is air. Hence, it becomes important to know with what speed sound travels in the air. The speed of sound is an important parameter in many fields of physics. The distance traveled per unit time by a sound wave propagating through a medium is referred to as the speed of sound.
At 20 °C, the speed of sound in air is 343.2 m/s, which corresponds to 1,236 km/h. At this rate, sound will travel one mile in around five seconds. Sound travels 4 times faster in water (1,482 meters per second) and around 13 times faster through steel (4,512 meters per second).
Speed of Sound
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.
Table of Content
- What is a Sound Wave?
- What is Speed of Sound?
- Speed of Sound Formula
- Factors Affecting the Speed of Sound
- Speed of Sound in Different Medium
- Sample Problems on Sound Waves