| MadSci Network: Physics |
The sounds you hear are vibrations of the particles that make up the air around us. When you speak you push the air particles against one another, they push on the particles next to them and a wave of sound travels outwards. You can do exactly the same thing in water, so yes, sound does travel in water. Try singing underwater with a friend in a swimming pool - you will hear distorted sounds. In water the particles are closer together than air, this means it is easier for them to push on one another and the vibration that is the sound wave travels faster than in air. Sound travels even faster in solids like wood or earth as their particles are very close together. You may have seen pictures of American Indians with their ears to the ground listening for far, far away sounds.
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