The fastest possible speed of sound recorded at 36 km/sec

Sound waves can travel through different mediums, such as air or water, and move at different speeds depending on what they're travelling through.

The fastest possible speed of sound has been recorded for the first time which is about 36 km per second. The result is around twice as fast as the speed of sound in diamond, the hardest known material in the world, said the researchers.

Einstein’s theory of special relativity sets the absolute speed limit at which a wave can travel which is the speed of light, and is equal to about 300,000 km per second. However, it was not known to date whether sound waves also have an upper speed limit when travelling through solids or liquids.

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Sound waves in solids are already hugely important across many scientific fields. For example, seismologists use sound waves initiated by earthquakes deep in the Earth interior to understand the nature of seismic events and the properties of Earth composition.

Sound waves are also of interest to materials scientists because sound waves are related to important elastic properties including the ability to resist stress.