Why is there no sound in space? How? Is it just a theory, or correct?

Question

In my school, we are researching outer space && are supposed to come up with a question, to find online and research. I would like some nice detail for this question, to take notes on, and maybe put most of it in my own words for my project! Please give atleast two sentences. Thanks!

Answer 1

Actually... there *is* sound in space.

But, for arguement's sake: Sound is carried in the form of a compression wave. That means it has to travel *through* matter - air, liquid, or solid.

On Earth, we recognize the speed of sound in air is about 1100 feet a second at sea level. When we see lightning flash, and count the seconds until the thunder hits, we're timing to see how far away that bolt of lightning was - if you reach 6 seconds, it's about a mile away.

Now, when we mention how fast the speed of sound in air is, we have to say *where* it is too - because at different altitudes, the speed changes. The denser the air, the faster the speed of sound. That's because when a sound is formed (say, you clap your hands), the *sound* energy is transmitted by air molecules hitting other air molecules. If those molecules are closer, like at sea level, they don't have to travel very far before they strike other molecules to carry the sound along. But, if were standing on top of Mt. McKinley in Alaska, sound no longer moves at 760MPH, it's down to about 645MPH, because the air is much less dense. Go higher, and the speed of sound slows - because the molecules have to travel *further* before bumping into other molecules to transmit the sound.

In space, there are very, very few molecules floating around, but there *are* some. Sound *can* travel, but it's very very slow - because a molecule might have to travel miles before hitting another molecule to transfer the sound energy.

Answer 2

Sound consists of waves of denser and more rarefied gas, liquid or other substance moving through that medium. There cannot be audible sound in space because there are not enough atoms, molecules and so forth for this to happen. There are exceptions, though. Sound can still travel through a solid, so for example if a meteor collided with an asteroid, vibrations would pass through the asteroid, which would in a sense be sound. This was detected during the moon landings. The other exception is that if you look at the whole of the visible Universe, patterns can be detected in it which are like sound waves, which are said to be the noise made by the Big Bang itself, but in order to hear this noise you would have to have an ear billions of light years across and an unbelievably long attention span.

Answer 3

Is There Sound In Space

Answer 4

Sound is caused by waves in the air around us. A sound is made when the air is compressed. It immediately starts to decompress by pushing on the air around it. That air then becomes compressed, begins to decompress, pressing on the air around it. This continues for a distance, until the air around your ear is compressed, causing your eardrum to flex and causing your inner ear to register a sound. Sound is not just one wave, however, but a whole series of waves. The more waves that strike your ear per second, the higher the pitch of the sound. The more energetic the waves, the louder the sound.
Now air is not the only material that can "conduct" sound energy. What is required for sound is that molecules in the medium that is carrying the sound must be able to collide with each other. Materials such as steel, which are extremely dense compared to air, have molecules that are much closer together than those in the air. Because of that, they can conduct sound waves at a much faster speed (over 16000 ft/second in steel, compared to about 1100 ft/sec in air at sea level pressures.
In space, there is a very good vacuum, with molecules so far apart that they seldom collide with each other. Because of that, noises don't propagate in space and in space, "no one can hear you scream."

Answer 5

Well actually there is sound in space but it is different than sound on earth, you would need instruments to hear the sounds of a planets magnetic field because they come off as radio waves and so forth, But to hear sounds in space such as the perverbial axe hitting the wood at a hundred yards and hear the sound a slpit second later after the wood was hit would not be the same in space due to the fact that there is no atmosphere in space to carry the sound, See sound needs a way to be tranferred and earths atmophere is perfect for that but in space there is nothing that would carry the sound,,

sounds from space


http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/sounds2/

Answer 6

Sound is propagated through a medium (IE. air, solids, liquids). The wave front must "bump" atoms in order to travel. The speed of sound is directly proportional to the density of the medium the sound wave is traveling through. If the material is Earth's atmosphere at sea-level, the speed of sound is roughly 714mph. Railroad track steel can propagate sound nearly 10x faster. Less dense material has a slower speed of sound. Space (the area between celestial bodies) has an extremely limited amount of atoms in any given space. The area between atoms is so scarce that the wave barely travels from one atom to another, so the speed of sound is extremely slow. So, yes, sound can travel through space, but at a rate so slow that it is thought of as being unable to travel.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Answer 7

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RE:
Why is there no sound in space? How? Is it just a theory, or correct?
In my school, we are researching outer space && are supposed to come up with a question, to find online and research. I would like some nice detail for this question, to take notes on, and maybe put most of it in my own words for my project! Please give atleast two sentences. Thanks!

Answer 8

Sound does not occur in space because of the Sagan-Hubble Damping Field that is generated by the Milky Way's nuclear bugle.

Seriously, while people are always going to split hairs, sound in the usual sense cannot occur in space, because there is no medium to transmit it. You shouldn't need this forum to find *that* out.

Answer 9

Sound is caused by alternating pressure fronts that require some physical medium - air or water, typically, to propagate. Since "space" is a vacuum, there is no medium for the sound wave to propagate through, so although there might be the impetus (like an explosion) to create the "sound" it will not travel from its origination point to a receiver (like a person's ear). Like can travel through the vacuum, since it is an electro-magnetic wave, but sound is not.

Answer 10

YES YOU CAN HEAR (some) real sounds in space, and they are generally the ones that the movies "scientifically" cut out... like when an explosion occurs in space, the blast energy reaches you many times faster than the speed of sound, but it is in all essential ways sound.. only louder and quicker.. it hits the wall of ur ship or ur helmet, then u hear it.. duh.... but the best answers here are also correct kids ..