How far can sound travel through a tube?

Answer 1

Sound cannot travel forever.

E.g, When someone is talking and there are lots of people around can't here them. This is because when you speak it causes the air molecules in front to bump into the air molecules in front of it to bump in to the other bunch, etc. This is how sound waves are are made.

Answer 2

Let me explicitly state the assumptions I'm making here so that there's no confusion:

I assume you mean a hollow tube filled with air, and that we're only concerned with the sound travelling through the air. Sound will travel through the tube itself as well, but I'm ignoring that (since in that case the fact that it's a tube doesn't really matter; it would be the same if it were a solid rod).

The limiting factor then would be at what point random fluctuations in the air in the tube would overwhelm the initial sound, and that's a very, very complicated problem that depends on the initial intensity of the sound and other factors (like the density and temperature of the air, and the diameter of the tube could factor in as well).

Because of that, it's essentially impossible to give a hard and fast answer.

The tube, however, serves to focus the pressure wave that causes the sound and keep it from dissipating, so the best answer I can give is "further than without the tube".

Answer 3

The distance sound can travel through a tube depends on various factors such as the material, width, and length of the tube, as well as the frequency and intensity of the sound. In general, sound can travel several meters through a tube before dissipating due to absorption and reflection.