Question

Arrange the materials in the decreasing order of the speed with which sound will travel through them:
$(A)$ Metal rod, air, water.
$(B)$Air, Water, Metal rod.
$(C)$Metal rod, water, air.
$(D)$Water, air, Metal rod.

Answer 1

Hint:The sound waves will flow through the medium by contracting and expanding the sections of the medium in which they pass. The sound velocity is the path length traversed by sound waves per unit of time.
Two main qualities of matter influence the velocity of a sound wave: elastic characteristics and density.

Complete step-by-step solution:
Because the molecules in solids are closer together and more securely bound, sound waves pass through them more easily than through liquids. Sound travels more slowly through gases than through liquids because gaseous molecules are closer together. In solid solids, sound travels quicker, but in liquids or gases, it travels slower.
As a result, the sound wave travels across three separate mediums. Metal rod, water, and air are the mediums. The decreasing order in three mediums may be found using the formula for the aforementioned three mediums, which have three distinct densities. The metal rod has a higher density than water and air. The density of water is higher than the density of air.
\[c = \sqrt {\dfrac{{{K_s}}}{\rho }} \]
$c = $ Speed of sound
${K_s} = $ Coefficient of stiffness
$\rho = $ density
The density is inversely related to the velocity or speed of sound, according to the above equation. As a result, if the density of the material is larger, the sound velocity or speed is lower. As a result, the sound velocity is larger in air, followed by water, and finally metal rod. Speed of air > water > metal rod.
Hence, the option $(C)$ is the correct answer.

Note:The speed of sound is specified as the dynamic stimulating of sound waves.
The dynamic engendering of sound waves characterizes the speed of sound. This is dependent on the characteristics of the medium in which the engendering takes place.
 The speed of sound is used to depict the speed of sound waves in a flexible medium.