If you never thought about why lightning is faster than thunder, then it's time to find out about the value of the speed of sound. The fact is that this parameter is not constant, since it depends on the propagation conditions. However, finding out what speed of sound is not so difficult.
Everyone knows that we hear air vibrations. The latter refers to a mixture of substances in which oxygen predominates. There are special tables that indicate the values of the sought quantities. For example, the answer to the question "what is the speed of sound in air" is almost always the same. This value ranges from 320 plus or minus 5 meters per second. In gases, vibrations propagate more slowly than in solids and liquids. This is due solely to the distance between adjacent elements. It is clear that the molecules that form the volatile matter are located at relatively large distances between themselves. In order to transmit vibrations, it is necessary to come into contact with a certain amount of substance per cubic meter. The higher the density of the body, the less energy is needed to transfer information from one particle to another. Now you understand that the answer to the question of what speed of sound is not on the surface.
The fastest air signal provider is carbon. As many as eighteen kilometers per second can fluctuate in this environment. However, this is still slower than the propagation of light. That is why thunder is heard after lightning. By the way, why know what speed of sound? For example, in cloudy weather you see a characteristic flash of light. To calculate how far the lightning strikes, it is enough to count the time after the flash. The conditional length of the path to your ears can be calculated using the formula l = 300 * t, where l is the distance. But it’s worth understanding that, firstly, the sound comes from the clouds. Therefore, relatively speaking, the waves reach the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Secondly, in such cases, with strong winds, both interference and auxiliary conditions for the propagation of oscillatory processes can occur. That is why the above formula is very generalized, but relatively useful for fans of any calculations.
No less interesting is the question of what is the speed of sound in water? As already discussed, it is higher than in some gases. In the ordinary salt sea, this value reaches a value of 1500 m / s. If we take a distilled product that has a lower density, we get a lower value. By the speed of sound in water, you can determine the distance to the approaching ship. During the war, submarines focused on various sound vibrations in the marine environment. Sailors were able to calculate, for example, immersion depth and other parameters.
Thus, you got the answer to the question, what is the speed of sound. In ordinary life, this value reaches about 300 m / s. But in scientific activity, for example physical chemistry, in the invention of various devices, in order to increase their internal speed of sound, various gases are used. That is why knowledge of this parameter is useful not only for solving school problems, but also for more important matters.