Science and Technology

What are sound waves?

Link to this answer

CloseClose

Link to this answer

Share this credible answer with others. Simply paste this code into your blog or Web page:

<a href="http://qanda.encyclopedia.com/question/sound-waves-97995.html" >What are sound waves?</a>
E-mail this answer Link to this answer

Unlike electromagnetic radiation , which can travel in the vacuum of free space, sound Waves require a medium (solid, liquid, or gas) in which to travel. Another important difference is that sound travels much slower than electromagnetic radiation; the speed of sound in air at sea level is approximately 1000 ft/sec (300 m/sec), which is roughly a millionth the speed of light in air. Sound waves are longitudinal, which means that the material particles transmitting the waves oscillate in the direction of propagation. Important factors to be considered in working with sound include reverberation and interference .

Answer verified with
Get more facts and information about acoustics . Or, view the full encyclopedia entry from The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.

Similar questions: How do soundwaves travel? What are the properties of soundwaves? How do soundwaves function? [ Hide these questions ]

Related research questions

Related research articles

Sound wave technology used in oil exploration translates to big screen.
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News ...Research into the use of sound waves to detect oil fields has yielded...microphones to record the sound waves. Their seismographic work...they could replicate original sounds in a second space -- a concert...identically reproduce sound waves from the original ...
A new step to treat heel pain Sound wave therapy might help keep patients off...
Newspaper article from: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) ...pain, relief might be a sound wave away. A new, noninvasive procedure using sound waves could be the answer when...complications. "Shock wave therapy is what we...similar to the sound wave technology that's been...energy to create shock waves, which are generated...to ...
SOUND WAVE TESTS SUGGEST FUSION'S PEACEFUL POTENTIAL.(LIFE & LEISURE)
Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY) ...microscopic bubbles with intense sound waves could convert the bubbles into...discovered that when intense sound waves vibrating at a fixed frequency...spherical, inward-moving shock wave traveling faster than the speed of sound is created by the violent...
Climate test: hum heard 'round the world.' (worldwide sound wave experiment to...
Magazine article from: Science News ...scientists next week will send sound waves throughout the world's oceans...underlies their technique: Sound travels faster through warm...measuring changes in the speed of sound over a decade, scientists...measure the time it takes for the sound to cross the seas. If the...Because marine ...
Heel Pain Sound-Wave Therapy Approved.(OssaTron lithtriptor from HealthTronics...
Newspaper article from: Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA ...particular bane of athletes, may soon get a new therapy: sound waves. Sound waves, emitted from a machine called a lithotriptor...applied to the foot. Then half had the OssaTron's sound waves beamed into their heels and half had a sham treatment...
See all results at HighBeam

HighBeam gives you access to newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles plus press releases, facts, information, and biographies from thousands of sources.