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The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. More simply, the speed of sound is how fast vibrations travel. At 20 °C (68 °F), the speed of sound in air, is about 343 m/s (1,125 ft/s; 1,235 km/h; 767 mph; 667 kn), or 1 km in 2.91 s or one mile in 4.69 s.
Underwater acoustic propagation depends on many factors. The direction of sound propagation is determined by the sound speed gradients in the water. These speed gradients transform the sound wave through refraction, reflection, and dispersion. In the sea the vertical gradients are generally much larger than the horizontal ones.
The speed of sound in any chemical element in the fluid phase has one temperature-dependent value. In the solid phase, different types of sound wave may be propagated, each with its own speed: among these types of wave are longitudinal (as in fluids), transversal, and (along a surface or plate) extensional.
Further down the water column, sound speed also decreases as temperature decreases in the ocean thermocline, and sound speed also decreases. At a certain point, however, the effect of depth, i.e., pressure, begins to dominate, and the sound speed increases to the ocean floor. [9] Also visible in figure 1 is a common feature in sound speed ...
In acoustics, Stokes's law of sound attenuation is a formula for the attenuation of sound in a Newtonian fluid, such as water or air, due to the fluid's viscosity.It states that the amplitude of a plane wave decreases exponentially with distance traveled, at a rate α given by = where η is the dynamic viscosity coefficient of the fluid, ω is the sound's angular frequency, ρ is the fluid ...
If relativistic effects are important, the speed of sound is calculated from the relativistic Euler equations. In fresh water the speed of sound is approximately 1,482 m/s (5,335 km/h; 3,315 mph). In steel, the speed of sound is about 5,960 m/s (21,460 km/h; 13,330 mph).
An acoustic wave is a mechanical wave that transmits energy through the movements of atoms and molecules. Acoustic waves transmit through fluids in a longitudinal manner (movement of particles are parallel to the direction of propagation of the wave); in contrast to electromagnetic waves that transmit in transverse manner (movement of particles at a right angle to the direction of propagation ...
An example of a sound velocity probe – the Teledyne Odom Digibar Pro. As the relationship of speed, time and distance are dependent, in order to accurately measure the distance one must also know the time of transmit to receive and the speed of sound in water accurately. There are two methods that this can be achieved.