Is there a medium in which sound travels faster than light?

Click For Summary
The discussion explores whether a medium can exist where the speed of sound surpasses the speed of light. It is established that sound speed increases with medium density, while light speed decreases, leading to the conclusion that achieving a density where sound overtakes light is theoretically improbable. The conversation touches on the properties of materials like Bose-Einstein condensates and Planck particles, emphasizing that sound relies on molecular motion, which cannot exceed light speed. Additionally, the concept of refractive index is discussed, clarifying that light can travel slower in various media but has a fixed speed in a vacuum. Ultimately, the consensus is that sound cannot exceed the speed of light in any real material.
  • #31
cosmik debris said:
Yes, isn't one of the dominant energy conditions that the speed of sound be less than the speed of light?
The speed of sound needs to be less than the invariant speed, c, which is the speed of light in vacuum, not in a material.
 

Similar threads

Undergrad What travels faster: visible light in water or X-rays in liquid mercury?
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
Why does light take a longer path in a rarer medium?
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
Why is the speed of light smaller in a medium?
  • · Replies 23 ·
Replies
23
Views
3K
Undergrad Dispersion: Why are Sine-like Functions Fundamental?
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
A question about the speed of Light in different media....
  • · Replies 30 ·
2
Replies
30
Views
4K
Optics: Huygens' principle and bending of light
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Light speed and refractive index
  • · Replies 25 ·
Replies
25
Views
3K
Undergrad Speed faster than light speed in a medium
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
3K
Can a photon travel slow enough to be seen by the naked eye
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
3K
Is the index of refraction constant for a given medium?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
4K