"Sound is something we are all surrounded by, and it is physically impossible not to be involved with, well unless you’re in a vacuum. But why is that?

 

What exactly is sound? How come there is so much mystery surrounding something so ordinary? For example, you might know that sound is a vibration of air molecules, but it’s not exclusive to this medium. Other mediums could be through other type of gases, and even solids and liquids. That helps explain one of the most disappointing news many of us eventually come to face: all the sound coming from Star Wars’ space battles is a complete myth.

 

Think of it like this, sound is a wave, but not exactly the type of wave that you remember when stone skipping. The ripples formed by the impact of the rock to the water produce perpendicular waves from the source, however sound waves are different. Sound waves are longitudinal waves, meaning they go back and forth in the same direction of the travelling wave.

 

Now let's take this concept and move it to the next level. If sound is a vibration of molecules, generally through air, it makes sense for it to move fastest on solids.

 

How come? Because molecularly speaking, solids are the most dense, meaning the particles inside a solid are closer together. Therefore it takes less time for its molecules to bump one into another and create the vibration, resulting in the fastest transmission. Using the same logic, gases are the slowest ones due to its particles being the farthest apart while liquids are in the middle.

 

Now, starting from the premise that space is a vacuum, it is scientifically impossible for any sound to be made, since there is no particles to carry the energy and bump one into another, thus creating sound. The medium of sound waves is often overlooked from us humans, since at Earth we don’t naturally bump into a vacuum. But it is a quintessential factor that makes sound be sound. If there is no particles to be vibrated, sound waves can’t be formed. And that is why, unfortunately, there is no sound coming from Star Wars’ space battles."