📚 Part 1: Multiple Choice

1. Sound waves travel fastest through which medium?

Air

Water

Steel

Vacuum

2. What type of wave is a sound wave?

Transverse wave

Longitudinal wave

Surface wave

Electromagnetic wave

3. In which medium can sound NOT travel?

Helium gas

Ocean water

Vacuum of space

Solid rock

4. Which factors affect the speed of sound in a medium? (Check all that apply)

Temperature

Density of the medium

Color of the medium

Elasticity of the medium

5. When sound travels from air into water, what happens to its speed?

It increases

It decreases

It stays the same

It stops completely

✏️ Part 2: Short Answer Questions

6. Explain why sound travels faster in solids than in gases. Use the terms "particles" and "vibrations" in your answer.

7. Fill in the blanks:

Sound waves are created by _____________ objects. These vibrations cause air particles to move back and forth, creating areas of _____________ (high pressure) and _____________ (low pressure).

8. A student shouts across a large gymnasium and hears an echo 2 seconds later. If sound travels at 1,100 feet per second in air, how far away is the wall that created the echo? Show your work.

🔬 Part 3: Analysis and Application

9. Explain why astronauts in space cannot hear each other speak without using radio communication, even when they are close together.

10. A whale's song can travel hundreds of miles through the ocean, but a person's voice only travels a few hundred feet through air. Explain why sound travels so much farther in water than in air.