How Sound Waves Travel

Question	Answer
When sound waves travel, the vibrate	They are created through the vibration of an object, which then causes the air to vibrate
This vibration displaces the air molecules	And this causes the sound to travel through the air
Something important to note is that the sound wave is not just moving the sound	It is also transporting energy
When sound travels through gasses and liquids, they travel as longitudinal waves	With longitudinal waves, the direction of travel is the same as the displacement of the medium
An example of this is a tuning fork	When a tuning fork is vibrated, is pushes the air molecules out away from it
These air molecules then push against the other molecules around it, causing them to vibrate	The tuning fork is the original disturbance, but the air molecules are the medium
Sound waves travel at different speeds through different mediums	The speed of sound in air is 340 m/s
Sound travels faster through denser mediums	The speed of sound in water is about 1500 m/s

Resource summary

	Created by leonie.examtime over 10 years ago

	Copied by ed.wilson89 over 10 years ago