Tilt your head back a little

and put your hand over

the bottom of your neck.
Now say ahhh.
Can you feel the vibration?
These vibrations create
the sound.
Can you think of some noises that youve heard that are so loud, they cause
vibrations that you can really feel?
Sound waves can move through solids, liquids, or gases until they reach our ears.

A solid is a kind of matter that has its own shape and does not flow at a given
temperature. The molecules that make up a solid are close together and have
confined movement.

Liquids take the shape of their containers. These molecules are farther apart than
solids and are able to vibrate and move more freely.

The molecules that make up a gas are much farther apart than solids and liquids,
and can move independently. Without a container, gases can spread freely.

Directions are also written
at each station
1) While at your seats with a partner, have one person tap the desk and
the other listening with the water bag and then the air bag to their ear.
Record you observations. After recording, switch roles and do same
experiment again.
2) In partners, have one person hold the piece of wood up to your ear.
Have your partner gently tap the end of the piece of wood that isnt up
to your partners ear. After, have partner tap the wood with your ear a
few inches away from the wood. Record observations on worksheet.
After recording, have partners switch roles. The partner who was
tapping the wood will now be listening and vice versa. Record
observations.
3) Use a telephone cup and spread out in a straight line across from your
partner. Make sure your string is some what tight. You dont want much
slack. Have one person hold the cup to their ear. Plug the other ear
with your finger. Other student will talk into cup. It works best with a
deeper voice. Switch roles. Record observations on worksheet.
Sound travels best through solids because the molecules are closer
together. It's more DENSE. Sound is literally, one molecule smashing
into the one next to it. If the molecules are closer together, they can
smash each other much faster.

In a liquid, the molecules are touching each other, but they are not as
tightly packed together as they are in solids. Some of sound's energy
is wasted pushing the molecules around because they can slide past
each other which is why sound takes longer to travel in liquids than
through solids.

Sound travels poorest through air because the molecules are the most
spread out. There are a lot of places where the sound goes before it
reaches the ear.
Why sound travels best through solids