How is it that sound travels the slowest in gas (which is all around us) but when we’re underwater we can’t hear much of anything coming from the surface?

Question

I mean, shouldn’t we be hearing things coming from the surface when we’re underwater, since the wave just caused the molecules which are closer together in liquid than in gas to hit eachother?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Sound doesn’t transfer very efficiently between air and water – most of the sound energy that hits the water surface will be reflected from it rather than being transmitted into the water. This is due to the large difference in [acoustic impendence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_impedance) between the two fluids.