# Speed of Sound

Written by Jerry Ratzlaff on . Posted in Classical Mechanics

Speed of sound, abbreviated as a, depends on what the medium is and the temperature of the medium. It is the distance traveled for a specific time through a medium from particle to particle.

## Speed of Sound formulas

 $$\large{ a = \sqrt { \frac {K } {\rho} } }$$ $$\large{ a = \sqrt { k \; \frac { p } {\rho} } }$$ $$\large{ a = \sqrt { k\; R \;T_a } }$$ $$\large{ a = \frac{ d }{ t } }$$ (lightening strike distance) $$\large{ a = \frac{v}{Ma} }$$ (Mach number)

### Where:

$$\large{ a }$$ = speed of sound

$$\large{ T_a }$$ = absolute temperature

$$\large{ K }$$ = bulk modulus

$$\large{ \rho }$$  (Greek symbol rho) = density

$$\large{ R }$$ = gas constant

$$\large{ d }$$ = lightening strike distance

$$\large{ Ma }$$ =  Mach number

$$\large{ p }$$ = pressure

$$\large{ k }$$ = ratio of specific heats

$$\large{ t }$$ = elapsed time between seeing the flash and hearing thunder

$$\large{ v }$$ = velocity, speed of object

Tags: Equations for Speed