Speed of Sound
Speed of Sound
Speed of Sound
15%,[1] but had neglected the eect of uctuating temperature; that was later rectied by Laplace.[2]
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.
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
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
)
,
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.
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.
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.
DETAILS
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.
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).
p
,
c
=
This equation is derived from the rst two terms of the
7.1
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 .
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 =
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;
is the mean molar mass of air, in kg; and using the ideal
diatomic gas value of = 1.400,0.
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
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
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).
10.1
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
Mach number
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
10.2
11
NON-GASEOUS MEDIA
Other methods
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
10.3
11
Non-gaseous media
11.1
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
,
11.2
11.2
0.0
-0.5
-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
cfluid =
K
,
Water
11.2.2
Seawater
10
14
11.3
REFERENCES
13 See also
Acoustoelastic eect
Elastic wave
Second sound
Sonic boom
Sound barrier
Underwater acoustics
Vibrations
14 References
12
Gradients
11
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.
12
16
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