SPACE TUBE – SOUND IN A VACUUM
Student Worksheet
KS3
Learning
objectives:
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Recognise that sound travels at different speeds in different materials.
Explain why sound travels faster through some materials.
Describe an experiment to demonstrate sound being produced in a vacuum
Explain the results if the experiment
1. Complete the boxes below to represent particles in a solid, a liquid and a gas.
2. Looking at your diagrams decide whether you think that sound will travel fastest in a solid or a
gas. Give a reason for your answer. (Hint: if one particle is vibrating, which arrangement will
allow the vibration to be passed on fastest?)
I think that sound will travel quickest in a ______________.
Because___________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. In a complete vacuum there are no particles. What do you think you would hear when the air is
removed from the Space Tube?
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4. Describe the experiment in your own words and include a description of what you heard when
the air was removed from the Space Tube.
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5. Try and explain the results of the experiment using what you have learnt in this lesson. Try and
use the following words.
particles
vacuum
vibrations
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6. For each of the statements below tick the box that best completes the sentence.
Sound travels faster in a liquid than in a…
 Solid 
 Gas
Sound cannot travel through a vacuum because…
 There are no particles
 The particles are too close together.