Could you please tell me why the speed of sound is more in hydrogen than in the air we breathe? It was written in my textbook that the speed of sound is much greater in hydrogen than in air. (Hydrogen: 1270m/s & Air: 330 m/s).

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Solution

Sound propagates via longitudinal waves (compression and rarefaction) and so it is dependent on the density of the medium. Denser the medium (in terms of density and viscosity), greater is the time of propagation and hence lesser the speed. The density of air is higher than that of Hydrogen, so propagation is faster in Hydrogen.

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