Sound Travels?

Question

I have to put the following materials in order from the slowest to the fastest medium in which sound travels.
The materials are glass, steel, copper, iron, air, and water.
What order would they go in?

Answer 1

The speed that sound travels in a medium is dependent on it's density. The denser the material, the faster sound travels.

So from slowest to fastest:

air (den = 0.0012 gm/cm3)
water (1.0 gm/cm3)
glass (silica den = 2.6 gm/cm3)
steel (iron and carbon: iron = 7.86 and C = 2.26 gm/cm3)
iron (7.86 gm/cm3)
copper (8.96 cm/cm3)