Question

We say that sound travels faster in denser medium, but when we cover our ears tightly with our hands
(having solid bones and liquid blood which are denser than air) we cant hear anything . Why is it so??

Answer 1

*Book Mark*

Answer 2

I think that sound is a series of vibrations, and when something ad solid as a hand get in the way, they bounce off and can't get through... that's my guess

Answer 3

but sound travels faster in denser mediums
for example in water the speed of sound is faster than that in air

Answer 4

right, but sound can't travel through, say stone

Answer 5

I think that at a point it gets too dense

Answer 6

i dont think so
it actually travels fastest in solids i guess

Answer 7

But then why are there so many solids we can't hear through?

Answer 8

may be ... i thought that when we cover our ears we actually are stopping the air molecules from vibrating...
and plus there may be some substances which absorb sound and some which even reflect it .....both decrease its amplitude i guess

Answer 9

I really don't know; I'm just piecing information together and guessing :)

Answer 10

same here
the pieces i m getting are your answers!!

Answer 11

lol

Answer 12

thanks for trying though .

Answer 13

if you tap your hand which is over your ear with the fingers of your other hand you hear that alright.
i think that vibrations in the air from an outside sound to not make the molecules in your hand vobratre enough to be detected.

Answer 14

hmm, yeah sound really did travel faster in denser medium, but that is when the sound is produced at the medium. For instance, when you stick your ears to the table and knock the table for a few time, you will hear a loud knock and in a rapid speed. While in your case, the sound is travel in a less dense medium which is air, you can feel the existence of the sound because of the vibration of the air molecules in your ear. It doesn't mean that sound can travel 'into' your ear molecules, just like the way shadow is produced.

Answer 15

hmm, yeah sound really did travel faster in denser medium, but that is when the sound is produced at the medium. For instance, when you stick your ears to the table and knock the table for a few time, you will hear a loud knock and in a rapid speed. While in your case, the sound is travel in a less dense medium which is air, you can feel the existence of the sound because of the vibration of the air molecules in your ear. It doesn't mean that sound can travel 'into' your ear molecules, just like the way shadow is produced.

Answer 16

I mean, you can refer to how shadow is produced in this case. When you stop the light from travelling a shadow is produced, and that is how you stop the sound to continue to travel into your ears via the vibrations of air molecules to produce what we call 'sound'

Answer 17

sound waves can still travel in our hands but we can hardly hear... maybe because the ear canal was covered so the sound waves cannot enter and reach middle which causes the eardrum not to vibrate so you cant hear clearly...