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Speed of sound4/20/2023 ![]() ![]() The shock wave extends out about 30 feet then changes into the ordinary sound wave we know as thunder. What happens is lightning super heats the air around it which causes a sudden increase in pressure and causes surrounding air to expand violently at a rate faster than the speed of sound which creates a shock wave which expands outward from the lightning bolt. Thunder: A sonic boom created by a plane sounds similar to thunder because thunder is also a sonic boom. Here’s a pretty cool compilation of jets creating sonic booms: As an aircraft flies at supersonic speeds it is continually generating shock waves, dropping sonic boom along its flight path, similar to someone dropping objects from a moving vehicle. These waves travel at the speed of sound, and as the speed of the aircraft increases the waves are forced together, or compressed, because they cannot “get out of the way” of each other, eventually merging into a single shock wave at the speed of sound. This is because as an object passes through the air, it creates a series of pressure waves in front of it and behind it, similar to the bow and stern waves created by a boat. Sonic Boom: A sonic boom can be created when a plane goes faster than the speed of sound. Of course, the speed of sound depends on how high above sea level the plane is and what the temperature is. At Mach 2 the plane would be traveling at twice the speed of sound. Thus, at Mach 1, a plane would be traveling exactly equal to the speed of sound. Mach:“Mach” is how fast with reference to the speed of sound something (usually a plane) is traveling. Here’s a helpful chart (note that 447 meters per second is 1,000 mph): Solids: Sound speed can vary greatly in solids.The speed of sound increases in water with temperature and pressure. Water: Sound travels at 3,315 mph through water at 46☏.At 30,000 feet speed of sound is about 678 mph. ![]() At 32 degrees at sea level the speed of sound is 742 mph. Air: At sea level at 59 degrees with zero humidity sound travels just a tad over 761 mph.Thus, temperature affects the speed of sounds, as does pressure. The closer the molecules are to each other and the tighter their bonds, the faster sound travels. What is the speed of sound? That depends on what medium it is traveling through. So, there is no sound in a vacuum such as space (all those explosions in sci-fi movies are actually silent!). Thus, in order for sound to travel it must be transported through a medium capable of conducting waves, such as a gas, liquid or solid. ![]() It is kinetic energy that travels from molecule to molecule. The speed of sound in all solids are not faster than in all liquids.Ĭlick the I below to link to the Doppler Applet, where you can see the effect of sound produced by a plane traveling at or above the speed of sound.Sound is generated by a vibrating object acting on molecules around it and travels as waves. The exact speed of sound in steel is 5,960 meters per second (13,332 mph)! But, this is only for the majority of solids. In fact, sound waves travel over 17 times faster through steel than through air. This is because molecules in a solid medium are much closer together than those in a liquid or gas, allowing sound waves to travel more quickly through it. The reason that they are able to effectively use this method of communication over long distances is that sound travels so much faster in water. That's well over 4 times faster than in air! Several ocean-dwelling animals rely upon sound waves to communicate with other animals and to locate food and obstacles. In fresh water, sound waves travel at 1,482 meters per second (about 3,315 mph). Sound travels faster in liquids than in gases because molecules are more tightly packed. But, at 20✬, room temperature, sound travels at 343 meters per second (767 mph). At freezing (0º Celcius), sound travels through air at 331 meters per second (about 740 mph). This is because at lower temperatures, molecules collide more often, giving the sound wave more chances to move around rapidly. In a gas, it is particularly important to know the temperature. So, it makes sense that the speed of sound has the same order of magnitude as the average molecular speed between collisions. When we look at the properties of a gas, we see that only when molecules collide with each other can the condensations and rarefactions of a sound wave move about. The speed of sound depends upon the properties of the medium it is passing through. Temperature also affects the speed of sound. Of the three mediums (gas, liquid, and solid) sound waves travel the slowest through gases, faster through liquids, and fastest through solids. Sound travels at different speeds depending on what it is traveling through. ![]()
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