Quote:
Originally Posted by Igo kyu
(Post 63887)
I used to think this, but I said it elsewhere online, and someone corrected me. In a gas, speed of sound depends solely on temperature. If it was hotter at altitude, then the speed of sound there would be higher. Apparently space near Earth is really hot (as in, the few molecules of gas that there are move very fast), and the speed of sound is very high. Which surprised me, but still it seems that's the scientific consensus.
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The particular case of the sound speed in Air can be expressed as a function of temperature (absolute temperature) because the air pressure is low, and because the air temperature is directly related to the air density and pressure.
The general case is that the sound speed in a fluid (liquid or gaz) is a function of density and pressure. |
