Re: What produces the sound in a hand clap?

The collision of your hands is what produces the sound. I don't know 
if I'd say that the air vibrates. Sound moves in waves. Sound waves 
are compression waves. Imagine a spring that is attached to the 
ground. Then you pick up the spring and then let the string pull back 
down and then repeat the process. You can see the spring being 
compressed up and down its length. This is how compression 
waves move. A transverse wave can be simulated by shaking the 
spring from side to side. The sound moves through the air in 
compression waves and then it reaches your ear. Your ear can detect 
these waves and can even tell which direction it came from by the 
different times that the sound reaches each ear.