Compare approximately the speed of sound in air, water and steel.

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Solution

Sound travels fastest in steel and slowest in air. Water is in between. This is because the particles in solids are closer together than the particles in liquids or gases, and the particles in liquids are closer together than the particles in gases. The tighter particles are packed in a space, they collide more frequently. This allows sound, which is simply the combined collisions of particles, to travel fastest in solids. So, to reiterate, sound travels fastest in steel, then water, and slowest in air.

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