You are in a long mining tunnel deep under the earth. You have a friend that is several thousands of feet away from you in the tunnel. You tell this person using a walkie-talkie to yell and clang on the pipes on the tunnel floor at the same time. What happens? Your friend hears the clank of the pipes first because sound travels more quickly through metal than air. The speed of sound is not always the same. Remember that sound is a vibration of energy passed from molecule to molecule. The closer the molecules are to each other and the tighter their bonds, the less time it takes for them to pass the sound to each other and the faster sound can travel. It is easier for sound waves to go through solids than through liquids because the molecules are closer together and more tightly bonded in solids. Similarly, it is harder for sound to pass through gases than through liquids, because gaseous molecules are farther apart. The speed of sound is faster in solid materials and slower in liquids or gases. Sound travels at different speeds in different gases—and can go at different speeds even in the same gas. It travels much faster in warm air near the ground than in colder air higher up, for example. And it travels roughly three times faster in helium gas than in ordinary air, because helium is much less dense. That's why people who breathe in helium talk in funny voices: the sound waves their voices make travel faster—with higher frequency. If our atmosphere were thinner all of us would talk in higher pitched voices and if our atmosphere was thicker our voices would be deeper. Think about traveling to other planets, depending on what their atmospheric gases are made of, we could sound completely different!
12 Comments
Haley
4/18/2017 03:35:19 pm
I really like the last picture!
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Ema M.
4/18/2017 03:45:30 pm
I never thought about how we would sound in other planets.
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jaxon bunker
4/18/2017 04:29:19 pm
i like dem pics
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Sofia
4/18/2017 05:10:05 pm
I woulda guessed that sound travels faster through air
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Brady
4/18/2017 05:25:39 pm
i like the gun
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sinjin
4/18/2017 06:12:27 pm
loved it!
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jenna
4/18/2017 06:53:39 pm
thats really cool
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Zane
4/18/2017 10:22:31 pm
cool!
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Paige
4/19/2017 07:30:51 am
Wow that is super interesting also all of the gifs/pictures are really cool!
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Zaya
4/19/2017 07:31:58 am
It's crazy how fast sound goes!
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Stephanie
4/19/2017 07:38:47 am
That's weird but cool.. the pics are always awesome
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |