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.
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
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