answersLogoWhite

0


Best Answer

Because there are less molecules present in gases than, say, a solid. Sound travels through molecules, so if there are more molecules the sound will travel faster. For example, think of a bumpy country road and a smooth tarmac road. You'll travel faster along the tarmac right? This is because there's less bumps and gaps. The same idea works with sound. Less bumps = Smoother transition and therefore higher speed!

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar
More answers
User Avatar

Wiki User

11y ago

Sound travels faster in mediums that are more dense. It has to do with the particles in the medium being closer together and therefore able to bump into one another (and therefore transmit energy) faster.

Water is much more dense than air, and so sound travels about 4X faster in it.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

11y ago

Short and simple:

Sound is a compression (or pressure) wave.

There are two things that affect the speed of sound, the density of a material and its compressibility. Specifically, the speed of sound is proportional to the square root of the ratio.

v=sqrt(B/rho)

v=speed of sound.

B= bulk modulus. (There are different names for this material property such as coefficient of stiffness).

rho= mass density.

A greater density of a material tends to slow the velocity of sound but a greater stiffness tends to increase the velocity of sound.

The bulk modulus of steel is million times greater than air while the density of steel is merely ten thousand times greater.

Bulk modulus wins out and the velocity of sound in steel is more than ten times the velocity in air.

This relationship causes the speed of sound to be greater in most materials, but there are exceptions.

More Details:

The reader should be warned that there is much more to sound in materials than one see in the simple compression waves of air. Further, materials like steel come in various compositions and the micro structure depends on the processes that make it, so there is no such thing as a single number fore the speed of sound in steel.

Here are a few typical numbers for bulk modulus (stiffness) and density.

Air(adiabatic)

B= 1.42×10^5 Pa rho= 1.22 kg/m^3

Water

B=2.2×10^9 Pa rho= 1,000 kg/m^3

Steel

B= 160 x10^9 Pa rho=7,860 kg/m^3

v_air = 340 m/s.

v_water = 1482 m/s

v_steel= 4500 m/s

Caveat: As stated above, these numbers should be taken as approximate since various complications such as temperature and composition have not been explained.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

11y ago

Short and simple:

Sound is a compression (or pressure) wave.

There are two things that affect the speed of sound, the density of a material and its compressibility. Specifically, the speed of sound is proportional to the square root of the ratio.

v=sqrt(B/rho)

v=speed of sound.

B= bulk modulus. (There are different names for this material property such as coefficient of stiffness).

rho= mass density.

A greater density of a material tends to slow the velocity of sound but a greater stiffness tends to increase the velocity of sound.

The bulk modulus of water is 15,000 times greater than air while the density of water is not even one thousand times greater.

Bulk modulus wins out and the velocity of sound in water is more than four times the velocity in air.

This relationship causes the speed of sound to be greater in most materials, but there are exceptions.

More Details:

The reader should be warned that there is much more to sound in materials than one see in the simple compression waves of air. Further, materials like steel come in various compositions and the micro structure depends on the processes that make it, so there is no such thing as a single number fore the speed of sound in steel.

Here are a few typical numbers for bulk modulus (stiffness) and density.

Air(adiabatic)

B= 1.42×10^5 Pa rho= 1.22 kg/m^3

Water

B=2.2×10^9 Pa rho= 1,000 kg/m^3

Steel

B= 160 x10^9 Pa rho=7,860 kg/m^3

v_air = 340 m/s.

v_water = 1482 m/s

v_steel= 4500 m/s

Caveat: As stated above, these numbers should be taken as approximate since various complications such as temperature and composition have not been explained.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

Since it has no matter in it's wave to slow it down. Think of it like a highway with no cars you go faster, but with more cars you go slower. Same way with more matter/particles the light has to travel through them, while in a vacuum there is essentially nothing to stop it.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

It does. Sound requires matter to move through, and in a gas, the molecules are furthest apart. Sound can travel 17 times faster through steel than it can through air.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Wiki User

11y ago

They don't. Sound waves travel slowest through a gas.

This answer is:
User Avatar

User Avatar

Alma Eballe

Lvl 2
2y ago

Tolong nino ako

This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: Why does a light wave travel more slowly through gas than through a vacuum?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

Why doesn't light travel through a vacuum?

Light does travel through a vacuum.


Can gases travel through a vacuum?

No. Only light waves can travel through a vacuum.


Is vacuum a medium of light?

Light can travel through vacuum, but it is not a medium.


What object does light travel through more slowly a vacuum water or glass?

Light travels very slowly in glass compared to water and vacuum


What do light waves travel best through?

Light waves travel fastest through vacuum, at nearly 30 million meters per second. Light travels more slowly through other substances such as air and water, and can be absorbed.


What can light travel through that sound cant travel through?

light can travel through a vacuum whereas sound cant


Is light an example of mechanical wave?

No. Light is an example of an electromagnetic wave, which can travel through a vacuum. Mechanical waves must travel through a medium, and cannot travel through a vacuum.


Does light travel at its slowest speed when passing through a vacuum?

No, light is at its fastest in a vacuum.


What evidence do we have that light travel through a vacuum?

You create a vacuum in a lab, and then shine a light through it, and there is experimental proof that light travels through a vacuum. Alternatively, take the fact that light travels through space - if light could not travel through a vacuum, no light from the stars, the moon or the sun would ever reach our planet.


What does light travel faster through?

Light travels fastest through vacuum.


Can polarized light travel through a vacuum?

Why not? Of course it can!


What will light travel through that sound won't?

A vacuum.