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[jazman]

Originally Posted by msalama

How come, if the sound source in question radiates into water and air both, and soundwaves are known to travel faster through liquids & solids than gases? Enquiring buggers with tiny minds want to know

PS / EDIT: Got it. Within typical hydrophone detection ranges the delay between the two is so short that it's not detectable by ear, right? AFAIR the shortest delay the human ear / brain combo decodes as an aural delay is some 20-30 milliseconds, and anything less than that is heard as a phase shift / comb filter effect... am I right?

Sound is just a pressure wave. So, a liquid/solid doesn't compress much, so the wave zips through. The wave going through air mushes through a very compressible material. I wouldn't say the difference is 20-30ms for something 500-1000m away. For something 700m away, the sound takes two seconds in air, about 0.45 seconds in water, so you're talking about 1.5 seconds difference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_sound