Speed of sound
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The speed of sound is the rate at which a sound disturbance propagates through a medium. It depends on the medium's elasticity and density rather than on the loudness or frequency of an ordinary small-amplitude wave.
Sound generally travels fastest in stiff solids, more slowly in liquids, and slowest in gases. In dry air near room temperature its speed is about 343 metres per second, increasing as temperature rises.
In gases, pressure, composition, humidity, and temperature influence the speed. In oceans, temperature, salinity, and depth create changing sound-speed profiles that can bend sound paths and form acoustic channels.
The finite speed of sound is important in music, architectural acoustics, sonar, ultrasound, seismology, ranging, and the study of shock waves. Objects travelling faster than the local speed are described by a Mach number greater than one.
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- Source / publisher: Wikipedia
- URL type: WWW
- Credits: Wikipedia
- URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_sound