Question

State three factors on which the speed of sound depends.

Answer 1

Hint: We know that, Sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound was it propagates through an elastic medium.

Complete answer:
Firstly, we should know the speed of sound in air is about \[343\] metres per second.The main three factors on which speed of sound depends are given as,
Density of medium: Speed of sound is inversely proportional to the density of a medium, the greater the density of a medium, the slower the speed of sound. The speed of sound in air is low, because air is easily compressible.

Elasticity of medium: In fluids speed of sound depends upon bulk modulus $\beta $ as $v \propto \sqrt \beta$. In solid, speed of sound depends on Young’s modulus of elasticity $Y$. And the gaseous medium speed of sound depends upon $\gamma $ which is an adiabatic index and it’s related as $v \propto \sqrt \gamma $.

Temperature and pressure of medium: In high temperature, sound waves travel faster due to the fact that molecular vibrations happen more frequently at high temperature. At constant temperature the speed of sound does not depend upon pressure of a medium.

Note: The speed of sound in ideal gas depends only on its temperature and composition. The speed has a weak dependence on frequency and pressure in ordinary air, deviating slightly from ideal behaviour. Speed of sound is maximum in solids.