• Question: Why cant sound travel in space

    Asked by to Ian, Mathew, Naomi on 26 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Ian Stephenson

      Ian Stephenson answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      sound is vibrations – usually in the air. It’s carried by one air molecule bumping into the next, and pushing them until the sound reaches your ear, where it pushes your ear drum, and you hear it.

      In space there’s no air, or anything else (that’s why its called space!), so when (for example) a guitar string vibrates, theres no air for it to push against, and hence no way for the sound to get from the source to your ear.

    • Photo: Naomi Osborne

      Naomi Osborne answered on 26 Jun 2014:

      Like Ian mentioned, sound is made when pressure (such as talking, or the popping of a balloon) makes air ripple – when this reaches your ear, it makes your inner ear bones vibrate, which is perceived as sound. In space there’s no atmosphere or air, so there can’t be any sound.

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