Don’t dumb it down too much
In: Physics
The speed is largely dependent on what the sound is traveling through, but this I think explains it better.
Sound is caused by a change in position of molecules relative to a collection of other molecules. Since molecules have electrons on the outside, they are repulsed from one other (like charges repulse). Thus if you change the position of certain molecules, they will repulse the neighboring molecules. These neighboring molecules will then repulse their neighboring molecules, and thus you have this “shift in position” (usually measured as a shift in pressure) that propagates through space. This is what we hear as sound. The speed of propagation depends on how close the molecules are together when they are in equilibrium, the bonds the molecules have, etc.
Also the commonly used speed of sound in air(343 metres per second ) is based on air at 20 degrees C
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