Eli5: Do Sound Waves get affected by Gravity?

Question

Eli5: Do Sound Waves get affected by Gravity?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Sort of. Sound waves are waves in a medium (air, water, …) and the atoms in that medium have mass, so they are effected by gravity.

What might this effect mean, not much. The ocean is held in place by gravity, but if you make a sound on the bottom of the ocean, its path loss getting to the surface is almost identical to the path loss from the surface to the bottom.