Scientists indeed hold all the answers to the question of how fast is the speed of sound. You will know that sound travels at sea level in the air at a normal temperature of about twenty degrees Celsius. It also moves at a rate of 343 metres each second. It is very crucial to consider the medium in which the sound travels whenever you are calculating the speed of the sound. Apart from factors like impurities, pressure, humidity and temperature thought should be given to mediums like fresh water, steel, air, rock, sea water and others. When you take a medium like gases it has varying determinants for the speed of sound. A gas like hydrogen can host the speed of sound at about four times what air can hold. Furthermore sea water can host the sound speeds almost five times faster than that of air. When compared to liquids solids can hold sounds at even faster speeds.

When you take sound of speed at very high altitudes for about 60,000 feet, they will have a greater ground speed than the sound travel which is at the sea level. Under normal circumstances, the density factor also influences and helps answer the question of how fast is the speed of sound. Sea water being denser than that of air will therefore be able to accommodate the travel of sound five times faster. Also hydrogen will help support a speed sound of about four times faster than that of air. It is therefore very important to give thought to the properties of every material before calculating the sound speed and thus answering the question of how fast is the speed of sound.

From what we know in our normal science, sound travels faster in water than in air, more specifically, on the order of about 1250 to about 500 metres per second. Another thing worthy of note is the fact that in rocks sound can travel from anywhere in the range of 4700 to about 9300 metres per second. This however depends on the type of rock in question. It will also help to answer the question of how fast is the speed of sound. In a vacuum, sound does not have the ability to travel.

Generally, if you want to know how fast is the speed of sound, then study the medium in question.