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Sound travels best when it's in something which is tight - consider the "telephone" using two cups and a piece of string. When you warm anything up, it becomes more "loose" as the molecules become excited. (Ice is hard until you melt it. Tar is pretty stiff unless you heat it up.) So it follows that sound would travel *better* in a cold environment. There would be better transmission of the wave from one molecule to the next, and the molecules would typically be closer together, so it would theoretically travel a little faster. However, if the medium is air, this also depends hugely on the air pressure. As the pressure decreases, the molecules become more sparse (less dense), and it's more difficult for an affected molecule to pass on the waveform. So sound at the top of Everest may not travel as quickly as sound in the middle of the desert, despite the obvious temperature difference.

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15y ago
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6mo ago

Sound travels faster in high pressure because molecules are closer together, allowing for faster transmission of sound waves. In low pressure, molecules are more spread out, leading to slower propagation of sound waves.

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13y ago

The higher the frequency of a sound wave the higher the pitch. (Same with the lower). Therefore low sounds have a low frequency.

However volume-wise it's a different story because sound is measured in decibels. The higher the crest or trough of a wave the louder the noise. :)

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14y ago

Sound travels the same speed regardless of if it low or high frequency. This in known as the speed of sound. At sea level this is about 768 mph.

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10y ago

The speed of sound is not greatly affected by pressure in an ideal gas. Air is not an ideal gas, so there may be some small effect, but temperature and humidity will be much more influential.

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Q: Does sound travel faster in high pressure or low pressure?
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Related questions

Why does sound travel faster at the bottom of a mountain than it does at the top?

Speed of sound in air is dependent on the air pressure, and air pressure is dependent on height above sea level. Up high, pressure is lower and speed of sound is different.


Do sound waves travel in high pressure?

Yes, sound waves can travel through substances with varying pressure levels. In general, sound waves can travel through both low and high-pressure environments, but the speed and characteristics of the sound wave may be affected by the pressure level of the medium through which it is traveling.


How does air tempurature affect the speed of sound?

Sound waves travel through particle vibration, and when the temperature is high, the particles vibrate faster, thus the sound must travel faster with particles.


Where do sound waves travel at their fastest?

Sound travel faster in solids than in liquids, and faster in liquids than in gases. Sound travels faster in water than in the air but in solids it travels about eight times faster. Sound travels at the fastest speed in steel. In solids it travel faster in a hot surface, the particles move faster if the solid is cold its slower the movement.


Can sound travel faster through a high density gas?

Yes, sound travels faster in a high density gas because the particles in the gas are closer together, allowing for faster transmission of sound waves. The speed of sound in a medium depends on the medium's density and compressibility.


Why does sound travel faster in solid than in air?

It is according to the nature. Generally sound travels with high speeds in metals.


Does air at high pressure transmit sound faster than air at low pressure?

No. The speed of sound in air changes clearly with temperature, a little bit with humidity − but not with air pressure (atmospheric pressure).


Are sound waves the moving areas of high and low pressure?

Yes, sound waves are variations of pressure in a medium, such as air, where areas of high pressure are compressions and areas of low pressure are rarefactions. As the sound wave propagates through the medium, these areas of high and low pressure travel in a wave-like pattern, transmitting sound energy.


How does longitudinal sound move?

Longitudinal sound waves move by compressing and rarefying the medium they travel through in the same direction as the wave. As the sound wave propagates, it creates areas of high pressure (compression) and low pressure (rarefaction) that travel through the medium. This results in the perception of sound by our ears.


Do compressions and rarefactions decompressions in a sound wave travel in the same direction or in opposite directions from one another?

In a sound wave, compressions and rarefactions are regions of high pressure and low pressure respectively. They travel in the same direction as the wave itself. As the wave propagates, compressions and rarefactions move through the medium in the same direction, creating the oscillating pattern of high and low pressure that we perceive as sound.


Why does sound travel faster in a soild?

Sound travels faster in solids compared to liquids and gases because the particles in a solid are more tightly packed and organized, allowing sound waves to propagate more efficiently through the material. The stronger intermolecular forces between particles in solids also contribute to faster sound transmission.


Does sound travel fastest in metal?

Yes, sound travels fastest in solids like metals because the particles are closely packed together, allowing for faster transmission of sound waves. Metals have a high elasticity and low compressibility, which aids in the rapid propagation of sound.