Abstract
Longitudinal waves in an elastic body (or medium) are generally called sound waves. The most familiar sound waves are those that propagate in air. However, sound waves can propagate even in solids or liquids. Sound waves are associated with the compressional and rarefactional motion of molecules in the direction that the wave propagates. This is similar to the longitudinal waves that propagate along a mass-spring transmission line that was discussed in the previous chapter. Earthquakes generally produce both longitudinal waves and transverse waves, the latter propagating slower than the former. When we are hit by an earthquake, we first feel a horizontal motion arising from the longitudinal waves, and some time later, a tumbling vertical movement from the transverse waves. In this chapter, we study the properties of the longitudinal sound waves in solids, liquids, and gases.
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