How does sound travels?

Answer 1

Sound (a sound wave) is mechanical energy. The source of the energy, whatever it may be, will transfer mechanical energy into the medium through which it will travel to give rise to sound. It's just that simple. The wave associated with the movement of the mechanical energy of sound is a longitudinal wave. The medium is moved back and forth along the path of travel of the wave. Let's look at an example to try and make things clearer.

Picture a speaker cone. The cone moves out and in to create sound waves. When it moves out, it compresses the air in front of it. This compression wave is a volume of "denser air" in the front of the speaker that moves out away from the cone. As the cone comes back in, it creates a volume of "less dense air" behind it called a rarefaction wave. This rarefied air wave will move out away from in front the speaker in the same way the compression air wave did. In this way, the mechanical energy of sound is transfered into the air to create alternating waves of compression and rarefaction. And it is by the mechanism of those waves (sometimes called vibrations) that sound moves through air.

Sound also moves through liquids and solids by the same mechanism, but the material of the medium cannot move as dramatically as air can. That means that the waves do not create great changes in the density of the liquid and the solid to transfer the mechanical energy into the medium. Additionally, the sound moves faster in those more dense media. Any mechanical energy that can be put into air can be put into any liquid or solid, and the energy moves in the same way.

Answer 2

Sound is a pressure wave. It is produced by vibrations which travel through the air (or other subtance) by molecules vibrating and pushing against each other.

Imagine taking a slinky and stretching it out with both your hands. If you suddenly push one side of the slinky towards your other hand, you can see the wave of energy move from one hand to the other. Sound travels by the same principle!

Through Particles in the air.

Answer 3

it vibrates in different directions and goes in the auditory canal