Some people may even have a deeper understanding that space is silent because sound cannot travel in a vacuum.
Although both are true, have you ever wondered why?
To find out the truth of this matter, we need to carefully study the science behind all of this.
So space is void, but what does it mean?
Simply put, space is everything outside the earth’s atmosphere.
Although full of stars, planets, asteroids, etc., space is called emptiness.
A vacuum technically refers to space with no material at all.
There is nothing in the void. No particles, no air, nothing.
How can there be so many celestial bodies in the night sky?
Well, it turns out that space is not a vacuum. It is called such a place for convenience because it is so large that most of it are empty.
How does sound spread, why can’t it travel through space?
Sound waves are like light. However, unlike light waves, sound waves are called mechanical waves.
In the case of sound waves, these mechanical waves exist in the form of vibration waves that carry energy as they move from one place to another.
This wave must pass through what we call a medium, in this case through particles.
But let’s look at an example to make it a bit clearer.
If you play a guitar string, the string will vibrate. This initial vibration produces a chain reaction in the surrounding particles, which is different from the ripples caused by pebbles falling into a pond.
Each affected particle transfers vibration to the surrounding particles, thereby transferring energy.
The further the sound wave travels, the weaker the vibration.
This will continue until the sound wave ceases to exist because a small amount of energy is lost in each transmission between particles.
So, for sound to propagate, we need particles. These particles can form several things, including water, gas, liquid, and even solids.
Sound cannot travel through space because it is a vacuum. If you play the guitar in space, you won’t hear it.
No particle vibrates in the enormous void between the celestial bodies of the universe, so there is no transmission of the initial vibration of the guitar string and no one will hear it.
How can you be silent if space is not true?
Although most of the space is empty and therefore completely silent, there are still some areas where sounds can be heard.
But wait, doesn’t this go against everything I have said so far? Well, not exactly.
Clouds of dust and gas are all over the universe. These may be the remnants of long-dead stars, or even regions where matter gathers to form new stars.
In these space clouds, gas and dust may gather together and become dense.
This means that it is possible that particles close enough to produce sound can even travel a short distance.
An example of sound produced in space is inside a black hole, but unfortunately, humans cannot hear it.
This sound was first recorded at NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2003, and it came from the Perseus galaxy more than 250 million light-years away. Sound
is measured as Bflat, but its frequency is billions of times lower than what a human could hear.
Okay, wait, is space completely silent?
Although space is quieter than you might think, it is not completely silent.
Sound waves cannot travel through space, but there are infinitely small areas where sound can exist under very special conditions.
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