Does sound travel best through air?

My kids are fascinated by sound. Maybe it’s because they are very good at making lots of it! But what causes sound?

Sound occurs when an object vibrates. When an object moves back and forth we say it vibrates. When something vibrates (like your voice box) it causes the molecules around it to also vibrate, which then causes a ripple of motion (known as a sound wave) that can travel through air, water, and solid materials such as wood or a piece of string.

We hear sounds because the vibrations created travel through the air to our ears. Notice that when people want to hear something better they often cup their hand around their ear. This is to help them catch the sound waves.

The shape of our ears helps us catch sound waves. We all make use of sound on a daily basis, like when we listen to each other speak, or listen to the radio or television. Telephones also make use of sound.

In a later post I am going to explain to you in more detail how the modern telephone works. But first it is important that our kids understand something about sound. Here’s a simple experiment you can do with the kids in your life to teach them something about sound and how it travels.

I have also made this easy science experiment available as a Let’s Talk on the Telephone handout that you can print out and follow along with the kids in your life. Science With Me!