Does sound travel faster/farther in cold weather, and if so, why?

Answer 1

Good question. The speed of sound v relative to the current in which it is embedded is given by v = (gRT)^1/2 where g is the ratio of the specific heat at constant pressure to the specific heat at constant volume, R is the gas constant for dry air, and T is the temperature. The product gRT is then taken to the one-half power. We see from this equation that the speed of sound is proportional to the temperature and would expect sound to travel faster in a warmer air mass.

Answer 2

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RE:
Does sound travel faster/farther in cold weather, and if so, why?

Answer 3

The weather being cold or hot has nothing to do with density. Density is a relationship between mass and volume. Theoretically, sound would travel faster in hot weather due to the explanation given by our meteorologist friend. However, the speed of sound will vary significantly according to the humidity of the air. The more humidity, the faster sound will travel, since sound travels faster in liquids than in gases.

Answer 4

I think it would travel faster. Did you ever hear sound under water, when you bang rocks together? It sounds different than in air. Sound waves require a medium to travel. The percussion of the air carries the sound waves to your ear. The more dense the medium, the closer the air molecules, so percussion waves travel better. I notice differences in sound on cold days vs warm humid days. Cold air is more dense, so it makes for quicker transfer of sound energy.

Answer 5

Sound travels faster through warm air than through cold air.

This is to be expected because the faster-moving molecules in warm air bump into each other more often and therefore transmit a pulse in less time. For each degree rise in temperature above 0 degrees C, the speed of sound in air increases by 0.6 meters per second. In water, sound travels about four times as fast as it does in air, while in steel, the speed of sound is about fifteen times as great as in air.

The speed of sound depends on wind conditions, temperature, and humidity. It does not depend on the frequency of sound; all notes travel at the same speed. The speed of sound in dry air at 0 degrees C is about 330 meters per second, nearly 1,200 kilometers per hour. Water vapor in the air increases this speed slightly.

Answer 6

No, sound goes faster in warmer air.

Generally, speed of sound = 331 m/s + (0.6 m/s)*(temperature in degrees Celsius). There are other formulas that are more accurate, but this one is good enough.

Warmer air is "stiffer", that is, not as elastic, because the molecules are moving around with more energy. That's what makes the sound go faster.

Answer 7

Cold air is denser, so sound travels faster. There are a lot more sounds interfering with your hearing during the day. My New Orleans house is about a mile from I-10. The traffic on I-10 never stops, but it's a lot easier to hear late at night and early in the morning when it's cooler than later on, but I can still hear the traffic on I-10 all day long if I concentrate. Traffic on I-35 does decrease a lot late night early morning, but I'm also 3.5 miles or more from I-35. Hearing trains go through only about a mile away is a lot easier, and they have to blow their horns as they go though Norman, OK

Answer 8

well thinking logically, if sound is vibrations then it would make sense that it would move faster in an area through which the atoms in the air were already moving fast. Because heat allows particles to move faster, it would make more sense for particles to move faster in warm weather as opposed to cold.

Answer 9

In colder weather the air will be denser than in warmer weather so I would expect sound to travel slightly faster.

Answer 10

it travels faster in warm air. Cuz the warmer the air is the greater the average mean speed of the molecules of air. Since sound is transferred by collisions of molecules, the quicker they move the sooner the collisions transfer the sound energy down the
path. go to : http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/basics/sound-refraction.htm i think it might help. i looked it up on google so im not quite sure.