What properties of material affect its speed of sound?
Of course, sound does travel at different speeds in different materials. This is because the mass of the atomic particles and the spring constants are different for different materials. The mass of the particles is related to the density of the material, and the spring constant is related to the elastic constants of a material. The general relationship between the speed of sound in a solid and its density and elastic constants is given by the following equation: Where V is the speed of sound, C is the elastic constant, and p is the material density. This equation may take a number of different forms depending on the type of wave (longitudinal or shear) and which of the elastic constants that are used. The typical elastic constants of a materials include: • Young’s Modulus, E: a proportionality constant between uniaxial stress and strain. • Poisson’s Ratio, n: the ratio of radial strain to axial strain • Bulk modulus, K: a measure of the incompressibility of a body subjected to hydrosta
