Why does sound travel faster in helium that is lighter than air but also travels faster in water that is more dense than air?
In: Physics
The speed of sound (c) in gases is depends on two things:
– density (rho)
– bulk modulus (K)
by the equation:
c = sqrt(K/rho)
The bulk modulus tells you how much pressure you need to compress a gas – or vice versa, how much compression you need to transmit pressure. I think its kind of intuitive that a gas that only needs to compress a little bit transmit pressure faster thab one that has to compress a lot.
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