Question

How fast do p waves travel?

Answer 1

Hint: There are two kinds of body waves that propagate through the planet and these are p waves and s waves. One of the most important differences between p waves and s waves is that p waves can travel through any medium whereas s waves can only travel through solids.

Complete answer: The p waves travel at approximately 5 to 8 km/s speed. However the precise speed of the p waves varies according to the region of the earth i.e from less than 6 km/s in the crust to 13.5 km/s in the lower mantle.
-P waves are also called primary waves or pressure waves because they move in the same manner as the pressure waves. The material through which a pressure wave is travelling moves forward then backwards along the same path that the wave is travelling. They can travel through all the three mediums i.e solids, liquids and gases.
-As the velocity of the p waves is the highest therefore they arrive first and they are also compressional waves. However they do not cause much damage as they only move buildings up and down because they move the ground back and forth like a linky.
-It is believed that the p waves travel at least 60 percent faster than s waves because the interior of the earth’s reaction to both the waves is different.

Note: Apart from the body waves i.e p and s waves there is another kind of wave called the surface waves. Surface waves are not as fast as the body waves and they are the slowest but the most damage caused during an earthquake is by the surface waves.