Does sound travel upward or downward?

Answer 1

Sound travel direction.Sound really isn't said to travel upward or downward. Sound is essentially propagated omnidirectionally, which means that it radiates outward in all directions from its point of origin. Let's look at something from most everyone's experience as an example.

When a star shell in a fireworks display explodes overhead, the light and sound radiate from the point of detonation in all directions. Folks in the bleachers at a park hear the clap of the blast, and those across the river will also hear that bang (but just a bit later). Anyone who happens to be in the vicinity of the display will hear the shock wave resulting from the detonation of the shell. The sound may even be heard by folks flying in a plane a distance away, and all these observers will experience the sound because it travels in all directions.

To say that a sound wave travels upward or downward is not really correct. We can direct the soundwave with a number of different devices (like a megaphone, for example), but when it leaves the point of origin, it will move away in all directions and it can be heard in any direction from the source (though the amplitude will be different here or there).