• Question: How do vibrations travel through the air?

    Asked by antisocialash to Stuart, Simone, Serena, Alexander on 25 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Stuart Archer

      Stuart Archer answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Vibrations travel through air in the form of something called ‘longitudinal waves’. There’s a really good animation here that shows how they move:

      When something (like a speaker) vibrates, it causes it’s surface to move. The motion of it’s surface compresses the air that’s immediately in front of it. This compression forms a wave, as in the diagram, which travels directly away from the source of the vibration. I’m not a physicist, so can’t explain it in more detail than that – hope that answers your question!

Comments

  • Photo: Alexander

    Alexander commented on :

    Probably the easier way to think of this is all the gas being made up of wee molecules that normally buzz about bumping into each other randomly. When something moves (vibrates) it bumps into these molecules and by momentum these molecules bump into other molecules and make a chain reaction which is noticable like sound or waves in a puddle.