Why Cant Sound Waves Travel Past Earths Atmosphere?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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does not travel at all in space. The vacuum of outer space has essentially zero air.

Because sound is just vibrating air, space has no air to vibrate and therefore no sound

.

Can sound waves travel without atmosphere?


No, you cannot hear any sounds in near-empty regions of space

. Sound travels through the vibration of atoms and molecules in a medium (such as air or water). In space, where there is no air, sound has no way to travel.

Where sound waves Cannot travel?

Sound waves are travelling vibrations of particles in media such as air, water or metal. So it stands to reason that they cannot travel through

empty space

, where there are no atoms or molecules to vibrate.

How does sound travel through our atmosphere?

Sound travels in

mechanical waves

. A mechanical wave is a disturbance that moves and transports energy from one place to another through a medium. In sound, the disturbance is a vibrating object. And the medium can be any series of interconnected and interactive particles.

Can astronauts hear each other in space?

When astronauts are out in space, they can whistle, talk, or even yell inside their own spacesuit, but

the other astronauts would not hear the

. In fact, the middle of space is very quiet. Sound travels in waves, and it moves at different speeds through air or water or other materials.

How far can sound waves travel?

The speed of the sound wave is 340 m/s. The distance can be found using d = v • t resulting in an answer of

25.5 m

.

Do sound waves continue forever?

Sound cannot travel through empty space; it is carried by vibrations in a material, or medium (like air, steel, water, wood, etc). As the particles in the medium vibrate, energy is lost to heat, viscous processes, and molecular motion. So,

the sound wave gets smaller and smaller until it disappears

.

Is space silent NASA?


Space isn't silent

. It's abuzz with charged particles that — with the right tools — we can hear. Which is exactly what NASA scientists with the Van Allen Probes mission are doing.

Can sound pass through wood?


Sounds cannot travel through materials like stone, water, and wood

. In which medium sound travels fastest: air, water or steel?

What Cannot sound travel?

Sound can move through the

air, water, or solids

, as long as there are particles to bounce off of. However, if there are not particles to bounce off of, it can't move. There is no sound in the vacuum of space, because there is nothing to vibrate the sound.

Does sound exist in space?

Space is a vacuum — so it generally doesn't carry sound waves like air does here on Earth (though

some sounds do exist in outer space, we just can't hear them

). But the various probes zooming through our cosmos are capable of capturing radio emissions from space objects.

Does sound have a force?

Explainer: What is Acoustics? These vibrations, or sound waves,

carry a tiny amount of force

. Although the force of sound is weak, it can move small objects when used in just the right way.

Do sound waves travel in straight lines?


In the simplest situations, sound also travels in straight lines

. In the ocean, however, interactions between the sound and water make the transmission of sound much more complicated. These effects include reflection, bending (refraction), and scattering.

How did Robert Boyle demonstrate that sound waves Cannot travel through empty space?

A Ticking Clock

The fact that sound cannot travel through empty space was first demonstrated in the 1600s by a scientist named Robert Boyle.

Boyle placed a ticking clock in a sealed glass jar

. The clock could be heard ticking through the air and glass of the jar. Then Boyle pumped the air out of the jar.

How are sound waves like water waves How are they not like water waves?

Bottom: Ocean waves are transverse waves: the water moves back and forth at right angles to the line in which the wave travels. … Water waves shake energy over the surface of the sea, while sound waves

thump energy through the body of the air

. Sound waves are compression waves.

Why we Cannot talk in space?

Sound does not travel at all in space. The vacuum of outer space has essentially zero air.

Because sound is just vibrating air, space has no air to vibrate and therefore no sound

.

Why astronauts Cannot talk to each other in space?

Sound is a mechanical wave and requires a material medium for propagation.

There is nothing in space. There is no atmosphere

. Even if the astronauts are floating in the atmosphere next to each other they can't hear each other.

Can an astronaut fart in space?

The official verdict on gas in space: No burps, more farts, and no,

you can't use your flatulence to propel you around the shuttle

.

What's the furthest sound can travel?

Travelling at the speed of sound (

766 miles or 1,233 kilometers per hour

), it takes a noise about 4 hours to cover that distance. This is the most distant sound that has ever been heard in recorded history.

Why is it so quiet after a snowfall?

The reason snow is able to absorb sound is

because it is porous

. Snowflakes are six-sided crystals, and they are filled with open spaces, according to the Michigan State University Extension. Those spaces absorb sound waves, creating a quieting effect over a blanket of snow.

What is the farthest a human can hear?

The commonly stated range of human hearing is

20 to 20,000 Hz

. Under ideal laboratory conditions, humans can hear sound as low as 12 Hz and as high as 28 kHz, though the threshold increases sharply at 15 kHz in adults, corresponding to the last auditory channel of the cochlea.

Do vibrations go on forever?

Due to that friction, the wave's amplitude, or height, get smaller and smaller until it eventually dissipates. That is slowly fades out, due to friction in the air. Therefore, to answer the question, sound waves only have a limited amount of time to travel, but

yes, in fact they do travel after being emitted

.

Why can light travel in an empty space?

Light can travel in a vacuum.

A vacuum is empty space.

There are no molecules of air or anything else in a vacuum

. Like all forms of electromagnetic waves, light can travel through empty space, as well as through matter.

Does light travel as waves?


Light travels as waves

. Light waves don't always need particles to travel through. They can also travel through outer space or a vacuum. Light waves travel in straight lines.

What do space smell like?

A succession of astronauts have described the smell as ‘… a rather pleasant metallic sensation … [like] … sweet-smelling welding fumes', ‘burning metal', ‘a distinct odour of ozone, an acrid smell', ‘walnuts and brake pads', ‘gunpowder' and even ‘burnt almond cookie'.

Why is space dark?


Because space is a near-perfect vacuum — meaning it has exceedingly few particles — there's virtually nothing in the space between stars and planets to scatter light to our eyes

. And with no light reaching the eyes, they see black.

What's the loudest thing in the universe?

The

1883 Krakatoa volcano eruption

was the loudest sound recorded on Earth, but there are much louder sounds in space, even though we technically can't hear them.

Emily Lee
Author
Emily Lee
Emily Lee is a freelance writer and artist based in New York City. She’s an accomplished writer with a deep passion for the arts, and brings a unique perspective to the world of entertainment. Emily has written about art, entertainment, and pop culture.