Contributor: Meghan Vestal. Lesson ID: 11476
Does the type of matter that sound travels through really matter? Did you ever see someone listen to railroad tracks to see if a train is coming? Why? Experiment and learn about it!
Throughout the Related Lessons in this All About Sound series, found in the right-hand sidebar, you have been learning how sound is formed and how it moves so it can be heard.
Take a minute to refresh your memory.
If you said sound is formed by vibrating matter, you are correct!
In the previous lessons, you learned that the average speed of sound is around 760 miles per hour, but this speed can vary depending on what type of media, or phase of matter, the sound is traveling through.
Look at the pictures at the beginning of the lesson again. The balloon represents gas, the bag of water represents liquid, and the sandcastle represents a solid.
Print the Sound and Matter Experiment from Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar. Write your prediction in the section labeled "Hypothesis."
Complete an experiment to determine the answer to this question. Use the Sound and Matter Experiment worksheet as your guide and to record your data. You will need the following materials to complete the experiment.
When setting up the bags for the experiment, squeeze out as much air as possible from your solids and liquids bags. Now, complete the "Experiment" and "Conclusions" sections of the worksheet.
You should have found that sound travels best through solids. This is because the molecules in a solid are packed tighter together, allowing the molecules to bump into each other and vibrate more.
Sound has the most difficulty traveling through air or gasses. This is because air molecules are loosely spread out, making it difficult for the molecules to vibrate and bump into each other.
To learn more about the relationship between sound and matter, watch the video below. It will review what you have learned about compression waves and illustrate how sound travels through different media.
If your experiment had a different outcome, consider what you might have done differently or repeat the experiment. Then, when you are ready, move on to the Got It? section to review what you have learned about sound and matter.