Most people pick birds. But underwater, sound is a superpower, and one fish talks in a way you won't believe.
The case for birds
Songbirds learn to sing the way babies learn to talk: they listen, babble and practise. Chaffinches even have regional accents. And parrots can copy human words.
The case for fish
Fish talk with sound too: grunts, clicks and drumming. And underwater, sound has a big advantage.
Why sound is faster in water
Sound is a vibration, passed from particle to particle. In water, the particles are packed closer together than in air, so the vibration passes on faster.
Sound travels at about 1,500 metres a second in water, compared with about 340 metres a second in air. That's over four times faster. (At GCSE and beyond you'll also learn that how stiff a material is matters, but the particle model is the KS3 answer.)
The fish that talks by farting
Herring. Scientists think herring communicate by releasing bubbles of gas, which makes fast ticking sounds. It may help them keep the shoal together in the dark. The research won an Ig Nobel Prize in 2004.
Sound travels at about 340 m/s in air and about 1,500 m/s in water. Roughly how many times faster is it in water?
Show the answer
1,500 ÷ 340 ≈ 4.4, so a little over four times faster.
Save this for your next test
- Sound is a vibration passed from particle to particle.
- Particles are closer together in water than in air.
- So sound travels faster in water: about 1,500 m/s.
- In air it's about 340 m/s.
Read the video transcript
- Would you rather talk to birds… or fish?
- Most people pick birds. But one fish talks in a way you won't believe.
- First, the case for birds.
- Songbirds learn to sing the way babies learn to talk: listen, babble, practise.
- Chaffinches even have regional accents.
- And parrots can copy human words.
- Now, the case for fish.
- Fish talk with sound too: grunts, clicks and drumming.
- And underwater, sound is a superpower.
- Sound is a vibration, passed from particle to particle.
- In water, the particles are packed closer together, so the vibration passes on faster.
- About fifteen hundred metres a second. That's over four times faster than in air.
- And the fish I promised? Herring.
- Scientists think they talk to each other… by farting.
- So, birds or fish? Tell me in the comments.
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