How sound travels
In short: A vibration squeezes and stretches the air, and that pressure wave carries the sound to your ear.
1. Sound starts as a vibration of an object. 2. The vibrating object pushes on the air, making higher and lower pressure. 3. The pressure changes travel through the air as a wave. 4. In air at 20 °C, sound travels at about 343 metres per second. 5. The wave makes your eardrum vibrate, and you hear the sound.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Sound (Wikipedia)” (CC BY-SA 4.0). Illustrative, not to scale.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Sound
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