ELI5: What are sound waves?

Imagine you're playing with a slinky. If you push one end of the slinky, that push travels all the way to the other end, right? That push is kind of like a sound wave.

Sound waves are how sounds travel through the air (or water, or even solids!). They're like little pushes or vibrations.

Here's how it works:

• Something makes a noise, like you clapping your hands.
• When you clap, you push the air around your hands.
• That push makes the air molecules (tiny, tiny things that make up air) bump into each other.
• The bumping spreads out, like ripples in a pond when you throw a stone. These ripples are the sound wave.
• When the sound wave reaches your ear, it makes your eardrum vibrate.
• Your eardrum's vibration sends a signal to your brain.
• Your brain understands the signal as sound – a clap!

• Talking: Your voice box vibrates, pushing the air to make sound waves.
• Music: Speakers vibrate, pushing the air to make sound waves with different patterns (that's why different instruments sound different).
• Hearing someone call your name: Their voice creates sound waves that travel to your ear, and you know someone is calling you.