How does sound travel through solids, liquids and gases?
Activities Establish that sound needs a medium to travel through. Show pupils an electric bell ringing inside a bell jar. Ask them to predict what will happen if the air is pumped out of the jar, and test their predictions. If the pump is noisy, it would be better to listen as air is let back in. Ask pupils whether sound travels through solids, eg Can you hear through closed doors? Can animals hear under water? Ask pupils to carry out some quick activities to demonstrate transmission of sound through solids and liquids, eg battery-operated radio in sealed plastic bag under water using a hydrophone, sound passing through a wooden bench, a length of metal rod, a string telephone. Help pupils to make comparisons with sounds from the same source transmitted through air and establish that transmission is more effective through denser media. Ask pupils why this may be so, reminding them of the particle model of solids, liquids and gases. Help pupils to record what they found out, eg using an
Answer Hi Taylor, Sound comes in the form of “waves”. So when a sound is made, it can travel through many forms of matter such as solids, liquids and gases. However, due to differences in the densities of these forms of matter, the speed of the wave is changed. The change in the speed alters the nature of the sound and may even disapate the wave and stop the sound. I hope that I answered your question, if not, please ask follow up questions for clarification.
