![]() The speed of any wave depends upon the properties of the medium through which the wave is traveling. Faster waves cover more distance in the same period of time. A slower wave would cover less distance - perhaps 660 meters - in the same time period of 2 seconds and thus have a speed of 330 m/s. If a sound wave were observed to travel a distance of 700 meters in 2 seconds, then the speed of the wave would be 350 m/s. The faster a sound wave travels, the more distance it will cover in the same period of time. In equation form, this is speed = distance/time Since the speed of a wave is defined as the distance that a point on a wave (such as a compression or a rarefaction) travels per unit of time, it is often expressed in units of meters/second (abbreviated m/s). Always be cautious to distinguish between the two often-confused quantities of speed ( how fast.) and frequency ( how often.). While frequency refers to the number of vibrations that an individual particle makes per unit of time, speed refers to the distance that the disturbance travels per unit of time. Like any wave, the speed of a sound wave refers to how fast the disturbance is passed from particle to particle. As one particle becomes disturbed, it exerts a force on the next adjacent particle, thus disturbing that particle from rest and transporting the energy through the medium. A sound wave is a pressure disturbance that travels through a medium by means of particle-to-particle interaction.
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