Waves and energy

Question

"When you speak to someone, the air molecules travel from your voice box into the person's ear, thus carrying the sound wave to them."

 

Is the above statement correct? Explain your answer.

 

Hi! Thanks for viewing my question :) I know the above statement is false, and that sound is a longitudinal wave thereby the particles do not 'travel', but rather bump each other laterally to carry the sound energy to an ear. I was wondering what else to include in this question in order to get full marks? This question is worth 5 marks by the way. 

Answer 1

Yes, its often called compression and rarefaction of air molecules. Its like lining up a bunch of billiard balls near each other and rolling the first into the second, which hits the third and stops, which hits the fourth and stops etc. Collisions among billiard balls which are farther apart travel slower (representing a less dense medium like air) and collisions of billiard balls which are closer together travel faster (representing a more dense medium like air).

Answer 2

You are correct.  The air molecules do not travel from the voice box to the ear.  A pressure wave is what travels to the ear.  The voice box causes a disturbance in the surrounding air, which propagates through the air as a pressure wave, and is perceived as sound by the ear.