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Question: A boy swimming in a lake smacks the surface of the water with his hand, creating sound waves that travel through the water and air. Which will hear the sound sooner, a fish swimming 5 m below the surface of the water, or a bird flying 5 m above the surface of the water? Justify your answer by discussing how sound travels through a medium.

Answer :

kymberlyasher
The speed of sound in air is about 340 m/s, while the speed of sound in water is about 1,500 m/s. In general, sound travels faster in denser media, so the fish hears the noise first.

Sound waves are the waves generated from the sound source and are composed of rarefactions and compressions, they are of longitudinal, pressure and mechanical wave types.

A fish swimming 5 m below the surface of the water will hear the sound first.

What are the characteristics of the sound waves?

A sound travels in a medium depending upon the amplitude,  time period, frequency, velocity and wavelength.

A sound wave travels faster in the water as the particles are closely packed compared to the air and the water is denser as compared to the air.

The particles in the air are loosely and distantly placed making them less dense and hence the sound travels slower in the air.

Therefore, fish will hear the sound first.

Learn more about sound waves here:

https://brainly.com/question/4216812

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