Question

The properties of medium on which the speed of sound in it depends:

• A. elasticity
• B. density
• C. both A and B
• D. none of the above

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

both A and B

The speed of sound depends on two factors: elasticity and density. The more elastic a medium, the greater the speed. The more dense the medium the slower the speed of sound. For example steel is 6000 times more denser than air but 2,000,000 times more elastic than air, so sound travels 16 times faster in steel than in air.
More elasticity means a large bulk modulus, tension, pressure, or some other physical quantity that makes it more difficult to deform the medium. Density is just the inertial property that makes it difficult to accelerate the medium.