Eli5: Why does sound have a set speed if sound is just the air’s movement

Question

Don’t dumb it down too much

In: Physics

Answer 1

Air doesn’t move large-scale when sound passes through it, the vibrations are transported by adjacent air molecules bumping into each other. This way the “motion” of the sound wave is transported very fast (about 300 m/s) without any of the molecules themselves actually moving anywhere.

**Edit:** If you’re familiar with Newton’s cradle it’s basically that concept.