The speed of sound in any chemical element in the fluid phase has one temperature-dependent value. In the solid phase, different types of sound wave may be propagated, each with its own speed: among these types of wave are longitudinal (as in fluids), transversal, and (along a surface or plate) extensional.
Speed of sound, solid phase longitudinal, m/s transversal, m/s extensional, m/s notes 3 Li lithium use 6000 20 °C WEL 6000 4 Be beryllium use 12890 8880 12870 room temperature CRC 12890 8880 12870 WEL 13000 5 B boron use 16200 20 °C WEL 16200 6 C carbon use WEL 18350 11 Na sodium use 3200 20 °C WEL 3200 12 Mg magnesium use 5770 3050 4940 room temperature, annealed CRC 5770 3050 4940 annealed WEL 4602 13 Al aluminium use 6420 3040 5000 room temperature, rolled CRC 6420 3040 5000 rolled WEL 5100 14 Si silicon use 8433 5843 Cij 8433 5843 from C11=165.64 GPa, C44=79.51 GPa, ro1=2.329 g/cm3 WEL 2200 20 °C - note: probably wrong (see talk) 19 K potassium use 2000 20 °C WEL 2000 20 Ca calcium use 3810 20 °C WEL 3810 22 Ti titanium use 6070 3125 5090 room temperature CRC 6070 3125 5090 WEL 4140 23 V vanadium use 4560 20 °C WEL 4560 24 Cr chromium use 6608 4005 5940 20 °C WEL 5940 25 Mn manganese use 5150 20 °C WEL 5150 26 Fe iron use 5950 3240 5120 room temperature, electrolytic CRC 4994 2809 4480 cast CRC 5950 3240 5120 electrolytic CRC 5960 3240 5200 Armco WEL 4910 27 Co cobalt use 4720 20 °C WEL 4720 28 Ni nickel use 6040 3000 4900 room temperature CRC 6040 3000 4900 WEL 4970 29 Cu copper use 4760 2325 3810 room temperature, annealed CRC 4760 2325 3810 annealed CRC 5010 2270 3750 rolled WEL 3570 30 Zn zinc use 4210 2440 3850 room temperature, rolled CRC 4210 2440 3850 rolled WEL 3700 31 Ga gallium use 2740 20 °C WEL 2740 32 Ge germanium use 5400 20 °C WEL 5400 34 Se selenium use 3350 20 °C WEL 3350 37 Rb rubidium use 1300 20 °C WEL 1300 39 Y yttrium use 3300 20 °C WEL 3300 40 Zr zirconium use 3800 20 °C WEL 3800 41 Nb niobium use 3480 20 °C WEL 3480 42 Mo molybdenum use 6250 3350 5400 room temperature CRC 6250 3350 5400 WEL 6190 44 Ru ruthenium use 5970 20 °C WEL 5970 45 Rh rhodium use 4700 20 °C WEL 4700 46 Pd palladium use 3070 20 °C WEL 3070 47 Ag silver use 3650 1610 2680 room temperature CRC 3650 1610 2680 WEL 2600 48 Cd cadmium use 2310 20 °C WEL 2310 49 In indium use 1215 20 °C WEL 1215 50 Sn tin use 3320 1670 2730 room temperature, rolled CRC 3320 1670 2730 rolled WEL 2500 51 Sb antimony use 3420 20 °C WEL 3420 52 Te tellurium use 2610 20 °C WEL 2610 56 Ba barium use 1620 20 °C WEL 1620 57 La lanthanum use 2475 20 °C WEL 2475 58 Ce cerium use 2100 20 °C WEL 2100 59 Pr praseodymium use 2280 20 °C WEL 2280 60 Nd neodymium use 2330 20 °C WEL 2330 62 Sm samarium use 2130 20 °C WEL 2130 64 Gd gadolinium use 2680 20 °C WEL 2680 65 Tb terbium use 2620 20 °C WEL 2620 66 Dy dysprosium use 2710 20 °C WEL 2710 67 Ho holmium use 2760 20 °C WEL 2760 68 Er erbium use 2830 20 °C WEL 2830 70 Yb ytterbium use 1590 20 °C WEL 1590 72 Hf hafnium use 3010 20 °C WEL 3010 73 Ta tantalum use 3400 20 °C WEL 3400 74 W tungsten use 5220 2890 4620 room temperature, annealed CRC 5220 2890 4620 annealed CRC 5410 2640 4320 drawn WEL 5174 75 Re rhenium use 4700 20 °C WEL 4700 76 Os osmium use 4940 20 °C WEL 4940 77 Ir iridium use 4825 20 °C WEL 4825 78 Pt platinum use 3830 1680 2800 room temperature. Calculated using Wikipedia reported values for density (21450 kg/m3), Young's Modulus (167 GPa), and Poisson's ratio (0.38) CRC 3260 1730 2800 CRC cites American Institute of Physics Handbook (AIPH) table 3f-2 for this value, but in AIPH table 2f-6 there are elastic constants reported that yield 3700,1570, 2620 WEL 2680 AIPH 3700 1570 2620 Table 2f-6. Calculated from Young's modulus of 147 GPa (lower than commonly accepted for Platinum), Poisson's ratio of 0.39, density of 21370 kg/m3 79 Au gold use 3240 1200 2030 room temperature, hard-drawn CRC 3240 1200 2030 hard-drawn WEL 1740 81 Tl thallium use 818 20 °C WEL 818 82 Pb lead use 2160 700 1190 room temperature, annealed CRC 2160 700 1190 annealed CRC 1960 690 1210 rolled WEL 1260 83 Bi bismuth use 1790 20 °C WEL 1790 90 Th thorium use 2490 20 °C WEL 2490 92 U uranium use 3155 20 °C WEL 3155 94 Pu plutonium use 2260 20 °C WEL 2260
Speed of sound, fluid phases m/s notes 1 H hydrogen (gas) use 1310 27 °C CRC 1310 27 °C WEL 1270 Zuckerwar 1270 20 °C, 1 atm CRC 890 deuterium, 0 °C 1 H hydrogen (liquid) use 1101 −252.9 °C CRC 1101 −252.9 °C 2 He helium (gas) use 965 0 °C CRC 965 0 °C Zuckerwar 1007 20 °C, 1 atm WEL 970 2 He helium (liquid) use 180 −268.9 °C CRC 180 −268.9 °C 7 N nitrogen (gas) use 353 27 °C CRC 353 27 °C Zuckerwar 349 20 °C, 1 atm WEL 333.6 7 N nitrogen (liquid) use 939 −195.8 °C CRC 939 −195.8 °C 8 O oxygen (gas) use 330 27 °C CRC 330 27 °C Zuckerwar 326 20 °C, 1 atm WEL 317.5 8 O oxygen (liquid) use 906 −183.0 °C CRC 906 −183.0 °C 10 Ne neon (gas) use 435 0 °C CRC 435 0 °C WEL 936 (presumably for liquid?) 17 Cl chlorine (gas) use 206 0 °C CRC 206 0 °C WEL 206 18 Ar argon (gas) use 323 27 °C CRC 323 27 °C Zuckerwar 319 20 °C, 1 atm WEL 319 18 Ar argon (liquid) use 813 −185.9 °C CRC 813 −185.9 °C 36 Kr krypton (gas) use 221 20 °C Zuckerwar 221 20 °C, 1 atm talk 220 ± 1, prelim. experimental value 23 °C, 101.3 kPa 36 Kr krypton (liquid) use 1120 88RAB 1120 WEL 1120 54 Xe xenon (gas) use 178 20 °C, 1 atm Zuckerwar 178 20 °C, 1 atm 54 Xe xenon (liquid) use 1090 88RAB 1090 WEL 1090 80 Hg mercury (liquid) use 1451.4 20 °C CR2 1460.8 0 °C CR2 1451.4 20 °C CRC 1450 25 °C WEL 1407
See also
Notes Ref. CRC: Values are "at room temperature" unless noted, and "for normal atmospheric pressure" ("at 1 atm" for gases). Ref. WEL: Values refer to "where possible". Midpoint values are substituted if ranges were given in their original reference. Not specified further, it is assumed from the values that all (except fluids) are for the speed of sound in a thin rod.
References
Sources WEL As quoted at http://www.webelements.com/ from this source: G.V. Samsonov (Ed.) in Handbook of the physicochemical properties of the elements, IFI-Plenum, New York, USA, 1968.
CRC As quoted from various sources in an online version of: David R. Lide (ed), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th Edition. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida, 2003; Section 14, Geophysics, Astronomy, and Acoustics; Speed of Sound in Various Media
CR2 As quoted from this source in an online version of: David R. Lide (ed), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 84th Edition. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida, 2003; Section 6, Fluid Properties; Thermal Properties of Mercury Vukalovich, M. P., et al., Thermophysical Properties of Mercury, Moscow Standard Press, 1971.
APIH Dwight E. Gray (ed), American Institute of Physics Handbook. McGraw-Hill. Boca Raton, Florida, New York, 1957.
Other 88RAB: V.A. Rabinovich, et al. Thermophysical Properties of Neon, Argon, Krypton and Xenon. Selover (Eng. ed.) Hemisphere, Washington DC, 1988. Zuckerwar: A. J. Zuckerwar, Handbook of the Speed of Sound in Real Gases. Academic Press, 2002.