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Sound Race

Find how fast sound travels through steel, water and air. See why heat speeds it up and squeezing does not.

Physics · Class 11 · The speed of sound · 8 simulations. For JEE, NEET and your boards.

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What you'll learn

  1. Echo from the cliff: Find how long an echo takes to return: t = 2d / v
  2. The pressure gauge: Read the pressure from the displacement: p₀ = B k s₀
  3. Rail and air: See why sound is fastest in a solid: v = √(Y / ρ)
  4. Sonar: Find how much a liquid slows it down: v = √(B / ρ)
  5. Newton's guess: See why Newton was wrong and Laplace right: v = √(γP / ρ)
  6. Hydrogen tube: Predict the speed in any gas from its mass: v = √(γRT / M)
  7. Squeeze the gas: See that pressure alone leaves the speed unchanged
  8. Warm the gas: Find the temperature that speeds sound up: v ∝ √T