Higher: sound, solids and hearing

Disturbances become vibrations

Sound can travel through solids as vibrations passed between their particles. A vibrating tuning fork can set a tabletop vibrating, and the tabletop can produce sound in the surrounding air. Conversely, a sound wave in air can make a solid membrane vibrate. These examples convert a disturbance between air and a solid without transporting the solid material all the way from the source to the listener.