How does the density of a medium affect the speed of a wave?
The more dense the medium, the faster the wave travels (propagates), and if I recall correctly, the faster the wave’s energy is dissipated. According one theory, the denser a medium is, the closer ‘packed’ together it’s atoms / molecules are, which means each atom/molecule has to travel a shorter distance in order to ‘strike’ the next molecule/atom to propagate the wave. Theoretically, it is the force required to move each atom/molecule that distance which dissipates the wave’s energy; the denser a material, the more atoms/molecules are involved in the energy transmission, thereby dissipating more energy than in a less dense material over the same distance.
