The greater the resistance which a liquid offers to compression, the more promptly and forcibly will it return to its original volume after it has been compressed. The less the compressibility, therefore, the greater is the elasticity, and consequently, other things being equal, the greater the velocity of sound through the liquid.
We have now to examine the transmission of sound through solids. Here, as a general rule, the elasticity, as compared with the density, is greater than in liquids, and consequently the propagation of sound is more rapid.
In the following table the velocity of sound through various metals, as determined by Wertheim, is recorded:
Velocity of Sound through Metals
| Name of Metal | At 20° C. | At 100° C. | At 200° C. |
| Lead | 4,030 | 3,951 | … … |
| Gold | 5,717 | 5,640 | 5,619 |
| Silver | 8,553 | 8,658 | 8,127 |
| Copper | 11,666 | 10,802 | 9,690 |
| Platinum | 8,815 | 8,437 | 8,079 |
| Iron | 16,822 | 17,386 | 15,483 |
| Iron wire (ordinary) | 16,130 | 16,728 | … … |
| Cast steel | 16,357 | 16,153 | 15,709 |
| Steel wire (English) | 15,470 | 17,201 | 16,394 |
| Steel wire | 16,023 | 16,443 | … … |
As a general rule, the velocity of sound through metals is diminished by augmented temperature; iron is, however, a striking exception to this rule, but it is only within certain limits an exception. While, for example, a rise of temperature from 20° to 100° C. in the case of copper causes the velocity to fall from 11,666 to 10,802, the same rise produces in the case of iron an increase of velocity from 16,822 to 17,386. Between 100° and 200°, however, we see that iron falls from the last figure to 15,483. In iron, therefore, up to a certain point, the elasticity is augmented by heat; beyond that point it is lowered. Silver is also an example of the same kind.
The difference of velocity in iron and in air may be illustrated by the following instructive experiment: Choose one of the longest horizontal bars employed for fencing in Hyde Park; and let an assistant strike the bar at one end while the ear of the observer is held close to the bar at a considerable distance from the point struck. Two sounds will reach the ear in succession; the first being transmitted through the iron and the second through the air. This effect was obtained by M. Biot, in his experiments on the iron water-pipes of Paris.
The transmission of sound through a solid depends on the manner in which the molecules of the solid are arranged. If the body be homogeneous and without structure, sound is transmitted through it equally well in all directions. But this is not the case when the body, whether inorganic like a crystal or organic like a tree, possesses a definite structure. This is also true of other things than sound. Subjecting, for example, a sphere of wood to the action of a magnet, it is not equally affected in all directions. It is repelled by the pole of the magnet, but it is most strongly repelled when the force acts along the fibre. Heat also is conducted with different facilities in different directions through wood. It is most freely conducted along the fibre, and it passes more freely across the ligneous layers than along them. Wood, therefore, possesses three unequal axes of calorific conduction. These, established by myself, coincide with the axes of elasticity discovered by Savart. MM. Wertheim and Chevandier have determined the velocity of sound along these three axes and obtained the following results:
Velocity of Sound in Wood
| Name of Wood | Along Fibre | Across Rings | Along Rings |
| Acacia | 15,467 | 4,840 | 4,436 |
| Fir | 15,218 | 4,382 | 2,572 |
| Beech | 10,965 | 6,028 | 4,643 |
| Oak | 12,622 | 5,036 | 4,229 |
| Pine | 10,900 | 4,611 | 2,605 |
| Elm | 13,516 | 4,665 | 3,324 |
| Sycamore | 14,639 | 4,916 | 3,728 |
| Ash | 15,314 | 4,567 | 4,142 |
| Alder | 15,306 | 4,491 | 3,423 |