speed of sound
Also known as sound speed
distance travelled during a unit of time by a sound wave propagating through an elastic medium
AI overview
The speed of sound is how fast sound waves travel through materials like air or water, measured as a distance covered in a given amount of time. It matters because it affects everything from how we experience sound around us to how we design technology like sonar and aircraft that rely on understanding sound's behavior.
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- FA-18 Hornet breaking sound barrier (7 July 1999) - filtered.jpg
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An F/A-18 Hornet displaying rare localized condensation at the speed of sound
The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. More simply, the speed of sound is how fast vibrations travel. At 20 °C (68 °F), the speed of sound in air is about 343 m/s (1,125 ft/s; 1,235 km/h; 767 mph; 667 kn), or 1 km in 2.92 s or one mile in 4.69 s. It depends strongly on temperature as well as the medium through which a sound wave is propagating. At 0 °C (32 °F), the speed of sound in dry air (sea level 14.7 psi) is about 331 m/s (1,086 ft/s; 1,192 km/h; 740 mph; 643 kn). The speed of sound in an ideal gas depends only on its temperature and composition. The speed has a weak dependence on frequency and pressure in dry air, deviating slightly from ideal behavior.