Why can longitudinal waves travel through solids liquids and gases?

Sound waves are longitudinal waves . They cause particles to vibrate parallel to the direction of wave travel. The vibrations can travel through solids, liquids or gases. The speed of sound depends on the medium through which it is travelling.

Can longitudinal waves propagate in gas?

Longitudinal waves need bulk modulus of elasticity and are possible in all media, solids, liquids and gases.

Can longitudinal waves travel through a liquid?

Fluids can only transmit longitudinal waves. Mechanical waves can only travel through a vacuum, but electromagnetic waves can travel through a solid, liquid, or gas.

Why longitudinal waves do not propagate through vacuum?

Longitudinal waves always need a medium to propagate. They cannot travel through a vacuum. This is because in the vacuum there is no medium in the vacuum to travel through. As longitudinal waves need a medium they cannot travel through a vacuum.

Why do longitudinal waves travel faster than transverse?

Originally Answered: Why do longitudinal waves travel faster than transverse waves? Because the perturbation travels directly thru the material (internal action) and not thru the space surrounding it.

Why do transverse waves Cannot propagate in gas?

For transverse waves the displacement of the medium is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave. Transverse waves cannot propagate in a gas or a liquid because there is no mechanism for driving motion perpendicular to the propagation of the wave.

How does longitudinal wave propagate?

Compressional waves (longitudinal, primary, P-waves of earthquake seismology) are the fastest of all seismic waves. They propagate by compressional and dilatational uniaxial strains in the direction of wave travel through solid, liquid, and gas media.

In which of the following longitudinal wave Cannot travel?

Complete step by step solution: Longitudinal waves always need a medium to propagate. They cannot travel through a vacuum. This is because in the vacuum there is no medium in the vacuum to travel through. As longitudinal waves need a medium they cannot travel through a vacuum.

Why transverse waves do not propagate through liquids and gases?

The shear stresses in a solid are much stronger than a liquid. The shear stress in a gas is non-existent. Hence the transverse mode is weak in a liquid and non-existent in a gas. That said, transverse waves can propagate through liquids at the interfaces with other media. Water waves are a good example of this.

Why does energy propagate faster in solid than in liquid?

For energy to propagate in a medium, the disturbance created in one particle should be transmitted to another particle. In a longitudinal wave this happens via compression while in a transverse wave, this happens via shear stress. The shear stresses in a solid are much stronger than a liquid.

Why is the transverse mode weak in liquid and non-existent in gas?

In a longitudinal wave this happens via compression while in a transverse wave, this happens via shear stress. The shear stresses in a solid are much stronger than a liquid. The shear stress in a gas is non-existent. Hence the transverse mode is weak in a liquid and non-existent in a gas.

What are some examples of waves with longitudinal and transverse motion?

Another example of waves with both longitudinal and transverse motion may be found in solids as Rayleigh surface waves (named after John W. Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh who first studied them in 1885).