Speed of sound in various mediums table
Table shows speed of sound within medium compound of various materials such as air, steel or water.

# Settings#

 Unit (sound velocity in the medium) kilometres per hour [km/h]kilometres per minute [km/min]kilometres per second [km/s]metres per hour [m/h]metres per minute [m/min]metres per second [m/s]miles per hour [mph]miles per minute [mpm]miles per second [mps]foot per hour [fph]foot per minute [fpm]foot per second [fps]inch per hour [iph]inch per minute [ipm]inch per second [ips]furlong per fortnightspeed of light in vacuum [c]speed of sound in air (20°C, 1 atm)mach [M]knot (nmi/h) [kn] Decimals 0123456789

# metals#

 Substance Molecular formula Sound velocity in the medium[m/s] aluminum (pure) Al 6300 brass - 4300 cadmium - 2800 copper (pure) Cu 4700 gold Au 3200 iron Fe 5900 iron, cast - 4600 lead Pb 1960 magnesium Mg 5800 molybdenum Mo 6300 monel - 5400 nickel Ni 5600 platinum Pt 3300 silver Ag 3600 steel, carbon - 5920 steel, stainless 304 - 5800 tin Sn 3300 titanium Ti 6100 tungsten W 5200 uranium U 3400 zinc Zn 4200

# liquids#

 Substance Molecular formula Sound velocity in the medium[m/s] glycerin C3H5(OH)3 1900 ethanol C2H5OH 1160 liquid helium He 965 oil, petroleum - 1700 mercury Hg 1400 water 25°C H2O 1480 water, sea - 1540

# alcohols#

 Substance Molecular formula Sound velocity in the medium[m/s] ethanol C2H5OH 1160

# other materials#

 Substance Molecular formula Sound velocity in the medium[m/s] ice (frozen water, 0°C) H2O 4000 glass - 5300 organic glass (plexiglass) - 1700 quartz glass - 5800

# gases#

 Substance Molecular formula Sound velocity in the medium[m/s] hydrogen H2 1290 carbon dioxide CO2 259 dry air (standard conditions, 25°C and 100 kPa) - 330 oxygen O2 316

# oxides#

 Substance Molecular formula Sound velocity in the medium[m/s] carbon dioxide CO2 259 aluminium oxide Al2O3 9900

# plastics#

 Substance Molecular formula Sound velocity in the medium[m/s] nylon - 2600 polyethylene - 1900 rubber, hard - 1800 polystyrene (C8H8)n 2400 polyurethane - 1900 neoprene (polychloroprene) - 1600 teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE) (C2F4)n 1400

# wood#

 Substance Molecular formula Sound velocity in the medium[m/s] fir wood - 4890 pine wood - 4760

# solids#

 Substance Molecular formula Sound velocity in the medium[m/s] polystyrene (C8H8)n 2400 polyurethane - 1900 neoprene (polychloroprene) - 1600 teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE) (C2F4)n 1400 marble - 3810 concrete - 3800

# Some facts#

• The speed of sound is colloquially the speed of movement of an acoustic wave.
• The speed of propagation of acoustic waves varies depending on the medium in which the waves propagate.
• The speed of sound in substances reflects how quickly vibrations are transferred between particles.
• Generally speaking, the speed of sound in a medium depends on its elasticity and inertia:
$v = \sqrt{\frac{\text{elasticity of the medium}}{\text{inertia of the medium}}}$
• The above general expression can be converted to other forms depending on the context:
• for liquids:
$v = \sqrt{\frac{B}{d}}$
where:
• v - sound velocity in a liquid medium,
• B - liquid bulk modulus,
• d - liquid density,
• for solids:
$v = \sqrt{\frac{E}{d}}$
where:
• v - sound velocity in solid body medium,
• E - Young's modulus,
• d - density,
• for an ideal gas:
$v = \sqrt{\frac{\kappa p}{d}} = \sqrt{\frac{\kappa R T}{M}}$
where:
• v - sound velocity in an ideal gas medium,
• $\kappa$ - the so-called adiabatic index of a given gas, equal to the ratio of specific heat in the isobaric (under constant pressure) and isochoric (at constant volume) transformations $\frac{C_p}{C_v}$ ,
• p - pressure,
• d - density,
• R - gas constant,
• T - temperature absolute,
• M - molar mass.

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