[Physics] Speed of light and speed of sound in the same medium

acousticsopticsspeedspeed-of-lightwaves

Can anybody please tell me if there is an established relationship between the speed of sound and speed of light when they are traveling in the same medium? Are they related to each other in some way?
One finds that both, when propagating in a medium, are affected by the medium and its properties.

  • Light is affected by the interference of the electromagnetic fields of the atoms and other electric phenomena and interference. I think density of material and the nature of bonding in a way can also contribute.

  • Sound is affected by the state, tension, density, structure, temperature, pressure, etc., i.e, the material's properties.

But I can't see any clear relation between them for a particular material.
Hence please help me in suggesting other factors that may affect.
And is there a relation between the two speeds in a medium?

Best Answer

No direct relationship

Speed of light in medium depends only on material's electromagnetic properties: $$ v_{\textrm{light}}={\frac {1}{\sqrt {\mu \varepsilon }}} $$ Where as speed of sound in general depends on how pressure in material changes in relation to density change: $$ v_{\textrm{sound}}={\sqrt {\left({\frac {\partial p}{\partial \rho }}\right)_{s}}} $$

Indirect (weak) links

There is Clausius–Mossotti equation, which relates material permittivity to molecular polarizability $\alpha$ and number density of the molecules $N$ :

$$ {\frac {\varepsilon _{\mathrm {r} }-1}{\varepsilon _{\mathrm {r} }+2}}={\frac {N\alpha }{3\varepsilon _{0}}} $$

Number density relates to mass density in such way : $$ N={\frac {N_{\rm {A}}}{M}}\rho _{\mathrm {m} } $$ where $N_A$ is Avogadro constant, M - molar mass.

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