Why does light travel faster than sound?

This is like "Why is up?" The speed of light is approximately 186,000 miles per second. The speed of sound is about 1100 feet per second. (The qualifiers are because there can be variations.) Why are they different? Why is one person a blonde and another a redhead? or one tall and another short? I think you most likely want to know something more about the media of transmission, perhaps.... The fact that light does not need a medium means that it can travel full tilt (and its fastest) in a vacuum. It actually can be slowed somewhat (although very slightly) through glass, etc... Sound, on the other hand, cannot travel without a medium, since it depends on a physical vibration. It literally causes each molecule to vibrate as it passes, and that's what you actually "hear" when those vibrations reach your ear. "Soundproofing" is actually the interruption of that path of vibrations, usually a spongy or "foamy" structure, so that the vibrations are repeatedly stopped on their path until they lose the energy that keeps them going (and THAT is an over-simplified explanation, but you get the idea.)

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General idea is correct.
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by timbugtoo on April 26th, 2005
I Love the generalization of the definition. Thanks!
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by BLACK HEART on October 4th, 2008

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Why does light travel faster than sound?

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Why does light travel in vacuum faster than in anything else like air, glass, water...? Do all waves that travel at the speed of light, travel faster in vacuum? (please don't post a link as an answer unless to support your explanation)

Can light travel faster that the speed of light? I say it can.