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

Most of the sound wave bounces away when it hits the water. What’s left does make the water molecules move but has very little energy to go deep under water and the sound fades away quickly.