Sound is all around us, but have you ever wondered how it actually travels? Unlike light, which can move through empty space, sound needs a medium—air, water, or solid objects—to be heard.
When an object vibrates (like a guitar string or vocal cords), it pushes air molecules, creating waves of compression and expansion. These waves travel outward, reaching our ears, where the eardrum vibrates in response. The brain then translates these vibrations into recognizable sounds.
The speed of sound varies depending on the medium—it moves faster in solids than in air and four times faster in water! That’s why whales can communicate across vast ocean distances.
From music to speech, sound waves allow us to experience the world in a way no other sense can, making them one of nature’s most fascinating phenomena.
