HOW DOES SOUND TRAVEL?

Sound is a vibration, or wave, that travels through matter (solid, liquid, or gas) and can be heard.
How does sound move or propagate?
The vibration is started by some mechanical movement, such as someone plucking a guitar string
or knocking on a door. This causes a vibration on the molecules next to the mechanical event (i.e.
where your hand hit the door when knocking). When these molecules vibrate, they in turn cause
the molecules around them to vibrate. The vibration will spread from molecule to molecule
causing the sound to travel.
Sound must travel through matter because it needs the vibration of molecules to propagate.
Because outer space is a vacuum with no matter, it's very quiet. The matter that transports the
sound is called the medium.
Speed of Sound
The speed of sound is how fast the wave or vibrations pass through the medium or matter. The
type of matter has a large impact on the speed at which the sound will travel. For example, sound
travels faster in water than air. Sound travels even faster in steel.
Volume
The volume of sound is the measure of loudness. To quantify volume we use decibels. The more
decibels, the louder the sound is. A soft sound, like a whisper will measure around 15-20
decibels. A loud sound like a jet engine is more like 150 decibels.

Sound travels in waves. Sound must travel through matter to be heard. Matter can be a
solid, a liquid, or a gas. A sound is made when things vibrate. Sound travels by sending
vibrations through matter.
SOUND IN WATER
Sound in water and sound in air are both waves that move similarly and can be characterized the
same way. Sound waves can travel through any substance, including gases (such as air), liquids
(such as water), and solids (such as the seafloor). Did you know that sound cannot exist if it
doesn't have something to travel through? For example, sound cannot travel through outer space
because it is a vacuum that contains nothing to carry sound.
Even though sound waves in water and sound waves in air are basically similar, the way
that sound levels in water and sound levels in air are reported is very different, and comparing
sound levels in water and air must be done carefully. When we describe a sound as loud or soft,
scientists say that the sound has a high or low amplitude or intensity. Amplitude refers to the
change in pressure as the sound wave passes by. If you increase the amplitude of a sound, you
are making it louder, just as you do when you turn up the volume on your radio. If you decrease
the amplitude, you are making the sound softer, just as when you turn down the volume.
The amplitude of a wave is related to the amount of energy it carries. A high amplitude wave
carries a large amount of energy; a low amplitude wave carries a small amount of energy. The
average amount of energy passing through a unit area per unit time in a specified direction is
called the intensity of the wave. As the amplitude of the sound wave increases, the intensity of
the sound increases. Sounds with higher intensities are perceived to be louder.
The amount of energy per unit time is called power. The intensity of a sound wave is therefore
the amount of power transmitted through a specified area in the direction in which the sound is
traveling. Power is measured in watts, and intensity is therefore measured in watts per square
meter.
An example of power with which you are probably familiar is light bulbs, which are commonly
labeled in terms of the amount of electrical power that they use (60 watts, 100 watts, etc.). Light

waves have intensity just as sound waves do. The amount of power that a light bulb uses is
directly related to the intensity of the light waves that it puts out.
Sound intensities given in watts per square meter can be directly compared between water and
air. However, scientists often specify sound intensity as a ratio, changing from an absolute
intensity to a relative sound level. The sound intensity level in decibels (dB) is defined as 10
times the logarithm of the ratio of the intensity of a sound wave to a reference intensity.
The decibel is a relative unit of measure, not an absolute one as is watts per square meter.
The denser the liquid, the easier the sound will be able to travel through it, making it louder than
if the liquid were less dense. Whole cow milk has a density of about 1.03, water 1.00, and coffee
is most likely in-between water and milk. This means that if a sound of the same amplitude
(loudness) is played through each, you will hear them with in this decreasing order of amplitude:
milk, coffee, and then water, which is the quietest.