Speed of sound

For other uses, see Speed of sound (disambiguation).

15%,[1] but had neglected the eect of uctuating temperature; that was later rectied by Laplace.[2]

The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit time

by a sound wave propagating through an elastic medium.
The SI unit of speed is the metre per second (m/s). In
dry air at 20 C, the speed of sound is 343.2 metres per
second (1,126 ft/s). This is 1,236 kilometres per hour
(768 mph; 667 kn), or a kilometre in 2.914 s or a mile in
4.689 s.

During the 17th century, there were several attempts

to measure the speed of sound accurately, including attempts by Marin Mersenne in 1630 (1,380 Parisian feet
per second), Pierre Gassendi in 1635 (1,473 Parisian feet
per second) and Robert Boyle (1,125 Parisian feet per
second).[3]
In 1709, the Reverend William Derham, Rector of Upminster, published a more accurate measure of the speed
of sound, at 1,072 Parisian feet per second.[3] Derham
used a telescope from the tower of the church of St Laurence, Upminster to observe the ash of a distant shotgun
being red, and then measured the time until he heard
the gunshot with a half second pendulum. Measurements
were made of gunshots from a number of local landmarks, including North Ockendon church. The distance
was known by triangulation, and thus the speed that the
sound had travelled could be calculated.[4]

The speed of sound in an ideal gas is independent of frequency, but does vary slightly with frequency in a real gas.
It is proportional to the square root of the absolute temperature, but is independent of pressure or density for a
given ideal gas. The speed of sound in air varies slightly
with pressure only because air is not quite an ideal gas.
Although (in the case of gases only) the speed of sound
is expressed in terms of a ratio of both density and pressure, these quantities cancel in ideal gases at any given
temperature, composition, and heat capacity. This leads
to a velocity formula for ideal gases which includes only
the latter independent variables.
In common everyday speech, speed of sound refers to the
speed of sound waves in air. However, the speed of sound
varies from substance to substance. Sound travels faster in
liquids and non-porous solids than it does in air. It travels
about 4.3 times as fast in water (1,484 m/s), and nearly 15
times as fast in iron (5,120 m/s), as in air at 20 C. Sound
waves in solids are composed of compression waves (just
as in gases and liquids), but there is also a dierent type
of sound wave called a shear wave, which occurs only
in solids. These dierent types of waves in solids usually travel at dierent speeds, as exhibited in seismology.
The speed of a compression sound wave in solids is determined by the mediums compressibility, shear modulus
and density. The speed of shear waves is determined only
by the solid materials shear modulus and density.

2 Basic concept
The transmission of sound can be illustrated by using a
model consisting of an array of balls interconnected by
springs. For real material the balls represent molecules
and the springs represent the bonds between them. Sound
passes through the model by compressing and expanding the springs, transmitting energy to neighbouring balls,
which transmit energy to their springs, and so on. The
speed of sound through the model depends on the stiness of the springs (stier springs transmit energy more
quickly). Eects like dispersion and reection can also
be understood using this model.

In a real material, the stiness of the springs is called the

elastic modulus, and the mass corresponds to the density.
All other things being equal (ceteris paribus), sound will
travel more slowly in spongy materials, and faster in stier
ones. For instance, sound will travel 1.59 times faster
in nickel than in bronze, due to the greater stiness of
nickel at about the same density. Similarly, sound travels about 1.41 times faster in light hydrogen (protium)
gas than in heavy hydrogen (deuterium) gas, since deuterium has similar properties but twice the density. At the
1 History
same time, compression-type sound will travel faster in
solids than in liquids, and faster in liquids than in gases,
Sir Isaac Newton computed the speed of sound in air as because the solids are more dicult to compress than liq979 feet per second (298 m/s), which is too low by about uids, while liquids in turn are more dicult to compress
In uid dynamics, the speed of sound in a uid medium
(gas or liquid) is used as a relative measure for the speed
of an object moving through the medium. The speed
of an object divided by the speed of sound in the uid
is called the Mach number. Objects moving at speeds
greater than Mach1 are travelling at supersonic speeds.

3 EQUATIONS

than gases.
Some textbooks mistakenly state that the speed of sound
increases with increasing density. This is usually illustrated by presenting data for three materials, such as air,
water and steel, which also have vastly dierent compressibilities which more than make up for the density
dierences. An illustrative example of the two eects
is that sound travels only 4.3 times faster in water than
air, despite enormous dierences in compressibility of
the two media. The reason is that the larger density of
water, which works to slow sound in water relative to air,
nearly makes up for the compressibility dierences in the
two media.

2.1

Compression and shear waves

In a gas or liquid, sound consists of compression waves.

In solids, waves propagate as two dierent types. A
longitudinal wave is associated with compression and
decompression in the direction of travel, which is the
same process as all sound waves in gases and liquids.
A transverse wave, called a shear wave in solids, is
due to elastic deformation of the medium perpendicular
to the direction of wave travel; the direction of sheardeformation is called the "polarization" of this type of
wave. In general, transverse waves occur as a pair of
orthogonal polarizations. These dierent waves (compression waves and the dierent polarizations of shear
waves) may have dierent speeds at the same frequency.
Therefore, they arrive at an observer at dierent times, an
extreme example being an earthquake, where sharp compression waves arrive rst, and rocking transverse waves
seconds later.
The speed of a compression wave in uid is determined
by the mediums compressibility and density. In solids,
the compression waves are analogous to those in uids,
depending on compressibility, density, and the additional
factor of shear modulus. The speed of shear waves, which
can occur only in solids, is determined simply by the solid
materials shear modulus and density.

3 Equations
In general, the speed of sound c is given by the Newton
Laplace equation:
Pressure-pulse or compression-type wave (longitudinal wave)
conned to a plane. This is the only type of sound wave that
travels in uids (gases and liquids)

Ks
,

c=
where

Ks is a coecient of stiness, the isentropic bulk

modulus (or the modulus of bulk elasticity for
gases);
is the density.
Thus the speed of sound increases with the stiness (the
resistance of an elastic body to deformation by an applied
force) of the material, and decreases with the density. For
ideal gases the bulk modulus K is simply the gas pressure
multiplied by the dimensionless adiabatic index, which is
about 1.4 for air under normal conditions of pressure and
temperature.
Transverse wave aecting atoms initially conned to a plane.
This additional type of sound wave (additional type of elastic
wave) travels only in solids, and the sideways shearing motion
may take place in any direction at right angles to the direction of
wave-travel (only one shear direction is shown here, at right angles to the plane). Furthermore, the right-angle shear direction
may change over time and distance, resulting in dierent types
of polarization of shear-waves

For general equations of state, if classical mechanics is

used, the speed of sound c is given by
(
c=
where

)
,
s

3
p is the pressure;
is the density and the derivative is taken isentropically, that is, at constant entropy s.
If relativistic eects are important, the speed of sound is
calculated from the relativistic Euler equations.

equal but opposite eects on the speed of sound, and the

two contributions cancel out exactly. In a similar way,
compression waves in solids depend both on compressibility and densityjust as in liquidsbut in gases the
density contributes to the compressibility in such a way
that some part of each attribute factors out, leaving only
a dependence on temperature, molecular weight, and heat
capacity ratio (see derivations below). Thus, for a single
given gas (where molecular weight does not change) and
over a small temperature range (where heat capacity is
relatively constant), the speed of sound becomes dependent on only the temperature of the gas.

In a non-dispersive medium, the speed of sound is independent of sound frequency, so the speeds of energy
transport and sound propagation are the same for all frequencies. Air, a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, constitutes a non-dispersive medium. However, air does contain a small amount of CO2 which is a dispersive medium, In non-ideal gases, such as a van der Waals gas, the proand causes dispersion to air at ultrasonic frequencies (> portionality is not exact, and there is a slight dependence
28 kHz).[5]
of sound velocity on the gas pressure.
In a dispersive medium, the speed of sound is a function
of sound frequency, through the dispersion relation. Each
frequency component propagates at its own speed, called
the phase velocity, while the energy of the disturbance
propagates at the group velocity. The same phenomenon
occurs with light waves; see optical dispersion for a description.

Humidity has a small but measurable eect on speed of

sound (causing it to increase by about 0.1%0.6%), because oxygen and nitrogen molecules of the air are replaced by lighter molecules of water. This is a simple
mixing eect.

5 Altitude variation and implications for atmospheric acoustics

Dependence on the properties of
the medium
100

In uids, only the mediums compressibility and density

are the important factors, since uids do not transmit
shear stresses. In heterogeneous uids, such as a liquid
lled with gas bubbles, the density of the liquid and the
compressibility of the gas aect the speed of sound in
an additive manner, as demonstrated in the hot chocolate
eect.
In gases, adiabatic compressibility is directly related to
pressure through the heat capacity ratio (adiabatic index), and pressure and density are inversely related at
a given temperature and composition, thus making only
the latter independent properties (temperature, molecular composition, and heat capacity ratio) important. In
low molecular weight gases such as helium, sound propagates faster compared to heavier gases such as xenon
(for monatomic gases the speed of sound is about 75%
of the mean speed that molecules move in the gas). For a
given ideal gas the speed of sound depends only on its
temperature. At a constant temperature, the ideal gas
pressure has no eect on the speed of sound, because
pressure and density (also proportional to pressure) have

aurora

Speed of sound

80

Mesopause
ionosphere D layer

70
Geometric altitude (km)

The speed of sound is variable and depends on the properties of the substance through which the wave is travelling.
In solids, the speed of transverse (or shear) waves depends
on the shear deformation under shear stress (called the
shear modulus), and the density of the medium. Longitudinal (or compression) waves in solids depend on the
same two factors with the addition of a dependence on
compressibility.

Krmn line

Thermosphere

90

Temperature
60

meteor

Mesosphere

50

Stratopause
weather balloon

40

NASA X-43A

Stratosphere

30

ozone layer
SR-71 Blackbird

20
10

Concorde

Density

typical airliner

Tropopause

Mt Everest

Pressure

0
0

Troposphere

Burj Khalifa

0.5

1
Density (kg/m)

1.5

50
100
Pressure (kN/m)

150

200

250
300
Speed of sound (m/s)

350

150

200
250
Temperature (K)

300

Density and pressure decrease smoothly with altitude, but temperature (red) does not. The speed of sound (blue) depends only
on the complicated temperature variation at altitude and can be
calculated from it, since isolated density and pressure eects on
the speed of sound cancel each other. Speed of sound increases
with height in two regions of the stratosphere and thermosphere,
due to heating eects in these regions.

In the Earths atmosphere, the chief factor aecting the

DETAILS

speed of sound is the temperature. For a given ideal gas

with constant heat capacity and composition, the speed of

sound is dependent solely upon temperature; see Details cair = 331.3 m/s 1 + .
273.15
below. In such an ideal case, the eects of decreased density and decreased pressure of altitude cancel each other Dividing the rst part, and multiplying the second part, on
out, save for the residual eect of temperature.
the right hand side, by 273.15 gives the exactly equivaSince temperature (and thus the speed of sound) de- lent form
creases with increasing altitude up to 11 km, sound is
refracted upward, away from listeners on the ground,

creating an acoustic shadow at some distance from the cair = 20.05 m/s + 273.15.
source.[6] The decrease of the speed of sound with height
The value of 331.3 m/s, which represents the speed at
is referred to as a negative sound speed gradient.
0 C (or 273.15 K), is based on theoretical (and some
However, there are variations in this trend above 11 km.
measured) values of the heat capacity ratio, , as well as
In particular, in the stratosphere above about 20 km, the
on the fact that at 1 atm real air is very well described
speed of sound increases with height, due to an increase
by the ideal gas approximation. Commonly found values
in temperature from heating within the ozone layer. This
for the speed of sound at 0 C may vary from 331.2 to
produces a positive speed of sound gradient in this region.
331.6 due to the assumptions made when it is calculated.
Still another region of positive gradient occurs at very
If ideal gas is assumed to be 7/5 = 1.4 exactly, the 0 C
high altitudes, in the aptly-named thermosphere above 90
speed is calculated (see section below) to be 331.3 m/s,
km.
the coecient used above.

Practical formula for dry air

This equation is correct to a much wider temperature

range, but still depends on the approximation of heat capacity ratio being independent of temperature, and for
this reason will fail, particularly at higher temperatures.
It gives good predictions in relatively dry, cold, low pressure conditions, such as the Earths stratosphere. The
equation fails at extremely low pressures and short wavelengths, due to dependence on the assumption that the
wavelength of the sound in the gas is much longer than
the average mean free path between gas molecule collisions. A derivation of these equations will be given in the
following section.
A graph comparing results of the two equations is at right,
using the slightly dierent value of 331.5 m/s for the
speed of sound at 0 C.

7 Details
7.1 Speed of sound in ideal gases and air
Approximation of the speed of sound in dry air based on the heat
capacity ratio (in green) against the truncated Taylor expansion
(in red).

For an ideal gas, K (the bulk modulus in equations above,

equivalent to C, the coecient of stiness in solids) is
given by

The approximate speed of sound in dry (0% humidity)

air, in meters per second, at temperatures near 0 C, can
K = p,
be calculated from

cair = (331.3 + 0.606 ) m/s,

thus, from the NewtonLaplace equation above, the

speed of sound in an ideal gas is given by

p
,
c
=
This equation is derived from the rst two terms of the

Taylor expansion of the following more accurate equation:

where
where is the temperature in degrees Celsius (C).

7.1

Speed of sound in ideal gases and air

is the adiabatic index also known as the isentropic

expansion factor. It is the ratio of specic heats of
a gas at a constant-pressure to a gas at a constantvolume( Cp /Cv ), and arises because a classical
sound wave induces an adiabatic compression, in
which the heat of the compression does not have
enough time to escape the pressure pulse, and thus
contributes to the pressure induced by the compression;

Numerical substitution of the above values gives the ideal

gas approximation of sound velocity for gases, which
is accurate at relatively low gas pressures and densities
(for air, this includes standard Earth sea-level conditions).
Also, for diatomic gases the use of = 1.400,0 requires
that the gas exists in a temperature range high enough that
rotational heat capacity is fully excited (i.e., molecular
rotation is fully used as a heat energy partition or reservoir); but at the same time the temperature must be low
enough that molecular vibrational modes contribute no
p is the pressure;
heat capacity (i.e., insignicant heat goes into vibration,
as all vibrational quantum modes above the minimum is the density.
energy-mode, have energies too high to be populated by
a signicant number of molecules at this temperature).
Using the ideal gas law to replace p with nRT/V, and reFor air, these conditions are fullled at room temperplacing with nM/V, the equation for an ideal gas beature, and also temperatures considerably below room
comes
temperature (see tables below). See the section on gases
in specic heat capacity for a more complete discussion

of this phenomenon.
p
RT
kT
cideal = =
=
,
For air, we use a simplied symbol

M
m
where
c is the speed of sound in an ideal gas;

R = R/Mair .

Additionally, if temperatures in degrees Celsius(C) are

R (approximately 8.314,5 J mol1 K1 ) is the to be used to calculate air speed in the region near 273
molar gas constant;[7]
kelvin, then Celsius temperature = T 273.15 may be
used. Then
k is the Boltzmann constant;
(gamma) is the adiabatic index (sometimes assumed 7/5 = 1.400 for diatomic molecules from kinetic theory, assuming from quantum theory a temperature range at which thermal energy is fully partitioned into rotation (rotations are fully excited),
but none into vibrational modes. Gamma is actually experimentally measured over a range from
1.399,1 to 1.403 at 0 C, for air. Gamma is assumed
from kinetic theory to be exactly 5/3 = 1.666,7 for
monatomic gases such as noble gases);
T is the absolute temperature;

R T = R ( + 273.15),

cideal = R 273.15 1 +
.
273.15
For dry air, where (theta) is the temperature in degrees
Celsius(C).
cideal =

Making the following numerical substitutions,

R = 8.314, 510 J/(mol K)

M is the molar mass of the gas. The mean molar is the molar gas constant in J/mole/Kelvin, and
mass for dry air is about 0.028,964,5 kg/mol;
n is the number of moles;

Mair = 0.028, 964, 5 kg/mol

m is the mass of a single molecule.

is the mean molar mass of air, in kg; and using the ideal
diatomic gas value of = 1.400,0.

This equation applies only when the sound wave is a small

Then
perturbation on the ambient condition, and the certain
other noted conditions are fullled, as noted below. Cal
culated values for c have been found to vary slightly
[8]
cair = 331.3 m/s 1 +
from experimentally determined values.

C
.
273.15 C

Newton famously considered the speed of sound beUsing the rst two terms of the Taylor expansion:
fore most of the development of thermodynamics and
so incorrectly used isothermal calculations instead of
adiabatic. His result was missing the factor of but was
C
cair = 331.3 m/s(1 +
),
otherwise correct.
2 273.15 C

8 EFFECT OF FREQUENCY AND GAS COMPOSITION

cair = (331.3 + 0.606 C1 ) m/s.

In fact, assuming an ideal gas, the speed of sound c deThe derivation includes the rst two equations given in pends on temperature only, not on the pressure or density (since these change in lockstep for a given temperthe Practical formula for dry air section above.
ature and cancel out). Air is almost an ideal gas. The
temperature of the air varies with altitude, giving the following variations in the speed of sound using the standard
7.2 Eects due to wind shear
atmosphereactual conditions may vary.
The speed of sound varies with temperature. Since tem- Given normal atmospheric conditions, the temperature,
perature and sound velocity normally decrease with in- and thus speed of sound, varies with altitude:
creasing altitude, sound is refracted upward, away from
listeners on the ground, creating an acoustic shadow at
some distance from the source.[6] Wind shear of 4 m/(s
8 Eect of frequency and gas comkm) can produce refraction equal to a typical temperature
[9]
position
lapse rate of 7.5 C/km. Higher values of wind gradient will refract sound downward toward the surface in the
downwind direction,[10] eliminating the acoustic shadow 8.1 General physical considerations
on the downwind side. This will increase the audibility
of sounds downwind. This downwind refraction eect The medium in which a sound wave is travelling does not
occurs because there is a wind gradient; the sound is not always respond adiabatically, and as a result the speed of
being carried along by the wind.[11]
sound can vary with frequency.[15]
For sound propagation, the exponential variation of wind The limitations of the concept of speed of sound due to
speed with height can be dened as follows:[12]
extreme attenuation are also of concern. The attenuation which exists at sea level for high frequencies applies
to successively lower frequencies as atmospheric pressure

U (h) = U (0)h ,
decreases, or as the mean free path increases. For this
reason, the concept of speed of sound (except for fredU
U (h)
(h) =
,
quencies approaching zero) progressively loses its range
dH
h
of applicability at high altitudes.[8] The standard equawhere
tions for the speed of sound apply with reasonable accuracy only to situations in which the wavelength of the
U(h) is the speed of the wind at height h;
soundwave is considerably longer than the mean free path
is the exponential coecient based on ground sur- of molecules in a gas.
face roughness, typically between 0.08 and 0.52;
The molecular composition of the gas contributes both as
dU/dH(h) is the expected wind gradient at height h. the mass (M) of the molecules, and their heat capacities,
and so both have an inuence on speed of sound. In genIn the 1862 American Civil War Battle of Iuka, an acous- eral, at the same molecular mass, monatomic gases have
tic shadow, believed to have been enhanced by a north- slightly higher speed of sound (over 9% higher) because
east wind, kept two divisions of Union soldiers out of the they have a higher (5/3 = 1.66) than diatomics do
battle,[13] because they could not hear the sounds of battle (7/5 = 1.4). Thus, at the same molecular mass, the speed
of sound of a monatomic gas goes up by a factor of
only 10 km (six miles) downwind.[14]

7.3

Tables

In the standard atmosphere:

T 0 is 273.15 K (= 0 C = 32 F), giving a theoretical
value of 331.3 m/s (= 1086.9 ft/s = 1193 km/h =
741.1 mph = 644.0 kn). Values ranging from 331.3331.6 may be found in reference literature, however;
T 20 is 293.15 K (= 20 C = 68 F), giving a value of
343.2 m/s (= 1126.0 ft/s = 1236 km/h = 767.8 mph
= 667.2 kn);

cgas,monatomic
=
cgas,diatomic

5/3
=
7/5

25
= 1.091 . . .
21

This gives the 9% dierence, and would be a typical ratio for speeds of sound at room temperature in helium
vs. deuterium, each with a molecular weight of 4. Sound
travels faster in helium than deuterium because adiabatic compression heats helium more, since the helium
molecules can store heat energy from compression only
in translation, but not rotation. Thus helium molecules
(monatomic molecules) travel faster in a sound wave and
transmit sound faster. (Sound generally travels at about
70% of the mean molecular speed in gases).

T 25 is 298.15 K (= 25 C = 77 F), giving a value of

346.1 m/s (= 1135.6 ft/s = 1246 km/h = 774.3 mph Note that in this example we have assumed that tempera= 672.8 kn).
ture is low enough that heat capacities are not inuenced

10.1

Single-shot timing methods

by molecular vibration (see heat capacity). However, vibrational modes simply cause gammas which decrease toward 1, since vibration modes in a polyatomic gas gives
the gas additional ways to store heat which do not aect
temperature, and thus do not aect molecular velocity
and sound velocity. Thus, the eect of higher temperatures and vibrational heat capacity acts to increase the
dierence between the speed of sound in monatomic vs.
polyatomic molecules, with the speed remaining greater
in monatomics.

8.2

Practical application to air

By far the most important factor inuencing the speed of

sound in air is temperature. The speed is proportional
to the square root of the absolute temperature, giving an
increase of about 0.6 m/s per degree Celsius. For this
reason, the pitch of a musical wind instrument increases
as its temperature increases.
The speed of sound is raised by humidity but decreased
by carbon dioxide. The dierence between 0% and
100% humidity is about 1.5 m/s at standard pressure and
temperature, but the size of the humidity eect increases
dramatically with temperature. The carbon dioxide content of air is not xed, due to both carbon pollution and
human breath (e.g., in the air blown through wind instruments).
The dependence on frequency and pressure are normally
insignicant in practical applications. In dry air, the speed
of sound increases by about 0.1 m/s as the frequency rises
from 10 Hz to 100 Hz. For audible frequencies above
100 Hz it is relatively constant. Standard values of the
speed of sound are quoted in the limit of low frequencies,
where the wavelength is large compared to the mean free
path.[16]

The earliest reasonably accurate estimate of the speed

of sound in air was made by William Derham, and acknowledged by Isaac Newton. Derham had a telescope
at the top of the tower of the Church of St Laurence
in Upminster, England. On a calm day, a synchronized
pocket watch would be given to an assistant who would
re a shotgun at a pre-determined time from a conspicuous point some miles away, across the countryside. This
could be conrmed by telescope. He then measured
the interval between seeing gunsmoke and arrival of the
sound using a half-second pendulum. The distance from
where the gun was red was found by triangulation, and
simple division (distance/time) provided velocity. Lastly,
by making many observations, using a range of dierent distances, the inaccuracy of the half-second pendulum could be averaged out, giving his nal estimate of the
speed of sound. Modern stopwatches enable this method
to be used today over distances as short as 200400 meters, and not needing something as loud as a shotgun.

Mach number

Main article: Mach number

Mach number, a useful quantity in aerodynamics, is the
ratio of air speed to the local speed of sound. At altitude, for reasons explained, Mach number is a function
of temperature. Aircraft ight instruments, however, operate using pressure dierential to compute Mach number, not temperature. The assumption is that a particular
pressure represents a particular altitude and, therefore, a
standard temperature. Aircraft ight instruments need to
operate this way because the stagnation pressure sensed
by a Pitot tube is dependent on altitude as well as speed.

10

U.S. Navy F/A-18 traveling near the speed of sound. The white
halo consists of condensed water droplets formed by the sudden
drop in air pressure behind the shock cone around the aircraft
(see Prandtl-Glauert singularity).[17]

Experimental methods

10.1 Single-shot timing methods

The simplest concept is the measurement made using two
microphones and a fast recording device such as a digital
storage scope. This method uses the following idea.
If a sound source and two microphones are arranged in a
straight line, with the sound source at one end, then the
following can be measured:
1. The distance between the microphones (x), called
microphone basis.
2. The time of arrival between the signals (delay)
reaching the dierent microphones (t).

A range of dierent methods exist for the measurement

Then v = x/t.
of sound in air.

10.2

11

NON-GASEOUS MEDIA

Other methods

waves are called P-waves (primary waves) and S-waves

(secondary waves), respectively. The sound velocities of
In these methods the time measurement has been these two types of waves propagating in a homogeneous
replaced by a measurement of the inverse of time 3-dimensional solid are respectively given by[19]
(frequency).

Kundts tube is an example of an experiment which can

K + 43 G
E(1 )
be used to measure the speed of sound in a small volume.
c
=
=
,
It has the advantage of being able to measure the speed solid,p

(1 + )(1 2)
of sound in any gas. This method uses a powder to make

the nodes and antinodes visible to the human eye. This is

G
csolid,s =
,
an example of a compact experimental setup.

A tuning fork can be held near the mouth of a long pipe

where
which is dipping into a barrel of water. In this system it
is the case that the pipe can be brought to resonance if
K is the bulk modulus of the elastic materials;
the length of the air column in the pipe is equal to (1 +
2n)/4 where n is an integer. As the antinodal point for
G is the shear modulus of the elastic materials;
the pipe at the open end is slightly outside the mouth of
the pipe it is best to nd two or more points of resonance
E is the Youngs modulus;
and then measure half a wavelength between these.
is the density;
Here it is the case that v = f.
is Poissons ratio.

10.3

High-precision measurements in air

The last quantity is not an independent one, as E = 3K(1

2). Note that the speed of pressure waves depends
The eect from impurities can be signicant when mak- both on the pressure and shear resistance properties of
ing high-precision measurements. Chemical desiccants the material, while the speed of shear waves depends on
can be used to dry the air, but will in turn contaminate the the shear properties only.
sample. The air can be dried cryogenically, but this has
the eect of removing the carbon dioxide as well; there- Typically, pressure waves travel faster in materials than
fore many high-precision measurements are performed do shear waves, and in earthquakes this is the reason
with air free of carbon dioxide rather than with natural that the onset of an earthquake is often preceded by a
air. A 2002 review[18] found that a 1963 measurement quick upward-downward shock, before arrival of waves
by Smith and Harlow using a cylindrical resonator gave that produce a side-to-side motion. For example, for a
the most probable value of the standard speed of sound typical steel alloy, K = 170 GPa, G = 80 GPa and =
3
to date. The experiment was done with air from which 7,700 kg/m , yielding a compressional speed c , of
[19]
the carbon dioxide had been removed, but the result was 6,000 m/s. This is in reasonable agreement with c ,
then corrected for this eect so as to be applicable to real measured experimentally at 5,930 m/s for a (possibly dif[20]
The shear speed c , is estiair. The experiments were done at 30 C but corrected ferent) type of steel.
for temperature in order to report them at 0 C. The result mated at 3,200 m/s using the same numbers.
was 331.45 0.01 m/s for dry air at STP, for frequencies
from 93 Hz to 1,500 Hz.
11.1.2 One-dimensional solids

11

Non-gaseous media

11.1

Speed of sound in solids

11.1.1

Three-dimensional solids

In a solid, there is a non-zero stiness both for volumetric deformations and shear deformations. Hence, it is
possible to generate sound waves with dierent velocities dependent on the deformation mode. Sound waves
generating volumetric deformations (compression) and
shear deformations (shearing) are called pressure waves
(longitudinal waves) and shear waves (transverse waves),
respectively. In earthquakes, the corresponding seismic

The speed of sound for pressure waves in sti materials such as metals is sometimes given for long rods of
the material in question, in which the speed is easier to
measure. In rods where their diameter is shorter than a
wavelength, the speed of pure pressure waves may be simplied and is given by:

csolid =

E
,

where E is the Youngs modulus. This is similar to the

expression for shear waves, save that Youngs modulus
replaces the shear modulus. This speed of sound for pressure waves in long rods will always be slightly less than the

11.2

Speed of sound in liquids

same speed in homogeneous 3-dimensional solids, and

the ratio of the speeds in the two dierent types of objects depends on Poissons ratio for the material.

11.2

0.0
-0.5

Speed of sound in liquids

-1.0

Depth (km)

-1.5
-2.0
-2.5
-3.0
-3.5
-4.0
-4.5
Speed of sound in water vs temperature.

-5.0

In a uid the only non-zero stiness is to volumetric deformation (a uid does not sustain shear forces).

-5.5

Hence the speed of sound in a uid is given by

cfluid =

K
,

where K is the bulk modulus of the uid.

11.2.1

Water

In fresh water, sound travels at about 1497 m/s at

25 C.[21] See Technical Guides - Speed of Sound in
Pure Water for an online calculator. Applications of
underwater sound can be found in sonar, acoustic communication and acoustical oceanography. See Discovery
of Sound in the Sea for other examples of the uses of
sound in the ocean (by both man and other animals).

1480 1500 1520 1540

Sound Speed (m/s)

Speed of sound as a function of depth at a position north of

Hawaii in the Pacic Ocean derived from the 2005 World Ocean
Atlas. The SOFAR channel is centered on the minimum in the
speed of sound at ca. 750-m depth.

a depth of several hundred meters, then increases again

with increasing depth (right).[23] For more information
see Dushaw et al.[24]
A simple empirical equation for the speed of sound in sea
water with reasonable accuracy for the worlds oceans is
due to Mackenzie:[25]

c(T, S, z) = a1 +a2 T +a3 T 2 +a4 T 3 +a5 (S35)+a6 z+a7 z 2 +a8 T (S35

where

11.2.2

Seawater

T is the temperature in degrees Celsius;

In salt water that is free of air bubbles or suspended sed S is the salinity in parts per thousand;
iment, sound travels at about 1500 m/s. The speed of
sound in seawater depends on pressure (hence depth),
z is the depth in meters.
temperature (a change of 1 C ~ 4 m/s), and salinity (a
change of 1 ~ 1 m/s), and empirical equations have
The constants a1 , a2 , , a9 are
been derived to accurately calculate the speed of sound
[22]
from these variables. Other factors aecting the speed
of sound are minor. Since temperature decreases with a = 1, 448.96,
a2 = 4.591,
a3 = 5.304 102 ,
1
depth while pressure and generally salinity increase, the
4
a6 = 1.630 102 ,
prole of the speed of sound with depth generally shows a4 = 2.374 10 , a5 = 1.340,
a characteristic curve which decreases to a minimum at a7 = 1.675 107 , a8 = 1.025 102 , a9 = 7.139 1013 ,

10

14

with check value 1550.744 m/s for T = 25 C, S = 35 parts

per thousand, z = 1,000 m. This equation has a standard
error of 0.070 m/s for salinity between 25 and 40 ppt.
See Technical Guides. Speed of Sound in Sea-Water for
an online calculator.
Other equations for the speed of sound in sea water are
accurate over a wide range of conditions, but are far more
complicated, e.g., that by V. A. Del Grosso[26] and the
Chen-Millero-Li Equation.[24][27]

11.3

Speed of sound in plasma

The speed of sound in a plasma for the common case that

the electrons are hotter than the ions (but not too much
hotter) is given by the formula (see here)

cs = (ZkTe /mi )1/2 = 9.79 103 (ZTe /)1/2 m/s,

where

REFERENCES

waves to travel much further before being undetectably

faint.
A similar eect occurs in the atmosphere. Project Mogul
successfully used this eect to detect a nuclear explosion
at a considerable distance.

13 See also
Acoustoelastic eect
Elastic wave
Second sound
Sonic boom
Sound barrier
Underwater acoustics
Vibrations

m is the ion mass;

is the ratio of ion mass to proton mass = m/m ;

14 References

T is the electron temperature;

Z is the charge state;
k is Boltzmann constant;
is the adiabatic index.
In contrast to a gas, the pressure and the density are provided by separate species, the pressure by the electrons
and the density by the ions. The two are coupled through
a uctuating electric eld.

12

Gradients

Main article: Sound speed gradient

When sound spreads out evenly in all directions in three
dimensions, the intensity drops in proportion to the inverse square of the distance. However, in the ocean there
is a layer called the 'deep sound channel' or SOFAR channel which can conne sound waves at a particular depth.

[1] The Speed of Sound. mathpages.com. Retrieved 3 May

2015.
[2] Bannon, Mike; Kaputa, Frank. The NewtonLaplace
Equation and Speed of Sound. Thermal Jackets. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
[3] Murdin, Paul (Dec 25, 2008). Full Meridian of Glory:
Perilous Adventures in the Competition to Measure the
Earth. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 3536.
ISBN 9780387755342.
[4] Fox, Tony (2003). Essex Journal. Essex Arch & Hist Soc.
pp. 1216.
[5] Dean, E. A. (August 1979). Atmospheric Eects on the
Speed of Sound, Technical report of Defense Technical
Information Center
[6] Everest, F. (2001). The Master Handbook of Acoustics.
New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 262263. ISBN 0-07136097-2.
[7] CODATA Value: molar gas constant. Physics.nist.gov.
Retrieved 24 October 2010.

In the SOFAR channel, the speed of sound is lower than

that in the layers above and below. Just as light waves [8] U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1976, U.S. Government
Printing Oce, Washington, D.C., 1976.
will refract towards a region of higher index, sound waves
will refract towards a region where their speed is reduced.
[9] Uman, Martin (1984). Lightning. New York: Dover PubThe result is that sound gets conned in the layer, much
lications. ISBN 0-486-64575-4.
the way light can be conned in a sheet of glass or optical
ber. Thus, the sound is conned in essentially two di- [10] Volland, Hans (1995). Handbook of Atmospheric Electromensions. In two dimensions the intensity drops in prodynamics. Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-84938647-0.
portion to only the inverse of the distance. This allows

11

[11] Singal, S. (2005). Noise Pollution and Control Strategy.

Oxford: Alpha Science International. p. 7. ISBN 184265-237-0. It may be seen that refraction eects occur
only because there is a wind gradient and it is not due to
the result of sound being convected along by the wind.
[12] Bies, David (2004). Engineering Noise Control, Theory
and Practice. London: Spon Press. p. 235. ISBN 0-41526713-7. As wind speed generally increases with altitude,
wind blowing towards the listener from the source will refract sound waves downwards, resulting in increased noise
levels.
[13] Cornwall, Sir (1996). Grant as Military Commander.
New York: Barnes & Noble. p. 92. ISBN 1-56619-9131.

[27] Meinen, Christopher S.; Watts, D. Randolph (1997).

Further Evidence that the Sound-Speed Algorithm of
Del Grosso Is More Accurate Than that of Chen and
Millero. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
102 (4): 20582062. Bibcode:1997ASAJ..102.2058M.
doi:10.1121/1.419655.

15 External links
Calculation: Speed of Sound in Air and the Temperature
Speed of sound: Temperature Matters, Not Air
Pressure

[14] Cozens, Peter (2006). The Darkest Days of the War: the
Battles of Iuka and Corinth. Chapel Hill: The University
of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-5783-1.

Properties of the U.S. Standard Atmosphere 1976

[15] A B Wood, A Textbook of Sound (Bell, London, 1946)

How to Measure the Speed of Sound in a Laboratory

[16] Speed of Sound in Air. Phy.mtu.edu. Retrieved 13 June

2014.

Teaching Resource for 14-16 Years on Sound Including Speed of Sound

[17] APOD: 19 August 2007, A Sonic Boom.

Antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 24 October 2010.

Technical Guides. Speed of Sound in Pure Water

The Speed of Sound

Technical Guides. Speed of Sound in Sea-Water

[18] Zuckerwar, Handbook of the speed of sound in real gases,

p. 52

Did Sound Once Travel at Light Speed?

[19] L. E. Kinsler et al. (2000), Fundamentals of acoustics, 4th

Ed., John Wiley and sons Inc., New York, USA

Acoustic Properties of Various Materials Including

the Speed of Sound

[20] J. Krautkrmer and H. Krautkrmer (1990), Ultrasonic

testing of materials, 4th fully revised edition, SpringerVerlag, Berlin, Germany, p. 497
[21] Speed of Sound in Water at Temperatures between 32
212 oF (0100 oC) imperial and SI units. The Engineering Toolbox.
[22] APL-UW TR 9407 High-Frequency Ocean Environmental Acoustic Models Handbook, pp. I1-I2.
[23] How Fast Does Sound Travel?". Discovery of Sound
in the Sea. University of Rhode Island. Retrieved 30
November 2010.
[24] Dushaw, Brian D.; Worcester, P. F.; Cornuelle,
B. D.; Howe, B. M. (1993). On Equations for
the Speed of Sound in Seawater.
Journal of
the Acoustical Society of America 93 (1): 255275.
Bibcode:1993ASAJ93..255D. doi:10.1121/1.405660.
[25] Kenneth V., Mackenzie (1981).
Discussion of
sea-water sound-speed determinations.
Journal of
the Acoustical Society of America 70 (3): 801806.
Bibcode:1981ASAJ70..801M. doi:10.1121/1.386919.
[26] Del Grosso, V. A. (1974). New equation for speed
of sound in natural waters (with comparisons to other
equations)". Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 56 (4): 10841091. Bibcode:1974ASAJ56.1084D.
doi:10.1121/1.1903388.

12

16

16

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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