Quiz
The Speed of Sound
We know from James Clerk Maxwell that light travels as an electromagnetic wave through the vacuum of space. But what about mechanical waves, like sound traveling through solid matter?
Through which of these media does sound travel the fastest?
The stiffer and less dense the atomic lattice of a material, the faster the atoms can carry acoustic energy along.
Sound travels at roughly 12,000 meters per second in diamond, over 35 times faster than in air. Because diamond’s carbon atoms are so light and tightly bound, acoustic waves pass through them extremely quickly. Sound cannot travel in a vacuum at all.