KS3 Questions on Sound

Q3. The table below shows the speed at which sound travels through different materials.

Material
Physical state of material
Speed of sound in m/s
granite
solid
5400
nitrogen
gas
354
oil
liquid
1460
oxygen
gas
332
steel
solid
5980
water
liquid
1510

(a) Does sound travel fastest through solids or liquids or gases?

It travels fastest through solids.

1 mark

(b) Sound travels through air. Air is mostly nitrogen and oxygen. Use the information in the table to suggest the speed of sound in a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen.

any number between 333 and 353 inclusive

1 mark

(c) Tom and Zoe make a string telephone. They use two empty tin cans joined by a piece of string.

Tom and Zoe are 5 m apart. Tom talks quietly into one tin can, and Zoe holds the other tin can to her ear. If they keep the string taut, the sound of Tom's voice travels along the string.

(i) How does the sound travel along the string to Zoe?

As waves or vibrations (of the string).

1 mark

(ii) How does the tin can at Zoe's end make a sound?

It vibrates

1 mark

Maximum 4 marks