Why do we close doors and windows to reduce noise, considering that sound travels better through solids?
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While sound may travel better through some solids than through air, sound waves have a difficult time crossing between solids, liquids, and gasses.  For example, if you are at the bottom of a swimming pool, it is much easier to hear two stones clacked together when the stones are under water.  If they are clacked together right above the water's surface, you probably wont hear the resulting sound.
608130
Don't worry about that.  The pressure differential will keep the door from opening.  You watch too many movies.
53954
Houses are usually quieter, apartments usually have more relaible maintenence.  Pick yer poison.
449706
Sound travels faster through denser materials.  The closer the molecules of the material are, the easier it is for them to pass the sound energy between them.\n\nSolids are the densest of the three, then liquids, then gases.
912713
Cardboard is not the good material for managing sound, but it's cheap.  The acoustic design of a theater aims for excellent sound insulation between adjacent theaters and to the outside.  Within a theater, the objective is providing the best movie sound to the audience.  That requires allowing some reverberation, but managing reflections and assuring that the sound is good at all seats.  Some thought is given to reducing audience-generated noise, but that's not primary.  The best way to minimize that is to attend a theater with a well-behaved audience.
893222
Hi. The main advantage is that tempered glass will break into small, roughly cubical pieces. This eliminated a major hazard of having sharp pieces of glass.
362934
They control the Behavior of Sound Waves(Reflection, Refraction, and Diffraction)\n\nreflection of sound waves in auditoriums and concert halls do not always lead to displeasing results, especially if the reflections are designed right. Smooth walls have a tendency to direct sound waves in a specific direction. Subsequently the use of smooth walls in an auditorium will cause spectators to receive a large amount of sound from one location along the wall; there would be only one possible path by which sound waves could travel from the speakers to the listener. The auditorium would not seem to be as lively and full of sound. Rough walls tend to diffuse sound, reflecting it in a variety of directions. This allows a spectator to perceive sounds from every part of the room, making it seem lively and full. For this reason, auditorium and concert hall designers prefer construction materials which are rough rather than smooth.
97822
i think sound energy can pass through a medium so should pass through opaque object. light energy is not transmitted through opaque objects only transparent objects so it will be reflected at the boundary. Degree of reflection would depend on the opaqueness of the object
550989
Sound travels fastest through solids. This is because molecules in a solid medium are much closer together than those in a liquid or gas, allowing sound waves to travel more quickly through it. In fact, sound waves travel over 17 times faster through steel than through air. The exact speed of sound in steel is 5,960 meters per second (13,332 mph)! But, this is only for the majority of solids. The speed of sound in all solids are not faster than in all liquids.
1088143
The teeth that you are brushing and eating with are themselves set to vibrate as you eat or as they are brushed. The teeth are connected to the skull, and the vibrations go through your skull directly to your inner ear where your eardrum vibrates and thus the sound becomes "audible". This operates on the same principle as a tin can telephone. \n\nNow the reason why people sitting away from you cannot hear the sound as loudly is that the sound energy of the vibrations decrease proportionally to the inverse square of the distance from you. This is due to the fact that the sound waves disipate in a spherical shockwave. To a good approximation it is proportional to an evenly distributed spherical soundwave, and hence if they are r distance away from you, and their eardrum is .0001 r in radius, then  if you calculate the area of the eardrum, and you find what proportion that is of the surface area of the spherical shock wave, and then you find the initial energy that caused the spherical shockwave, then you will see that the amount of "sound energy" reaching the eardrums of the others is very tiny compared to the original.
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well actually sound is a series of vibrations and rarefractions, so when it is passed through the air the vibration is passing through the air molecules, and depending on the thickness or thinness of the air,the sound will go a further distance, also note that how loud the sound is must be taken into account. sound is not simply "absorbed" into the air, it is just the amount of strength the rarefraction and vibration is, now when there is wind, you have to take into account that sound is like an object, it will have wind resistance, or in a way. newtons second law i believe states, every force excerted onto another will  excert force equally or more back upon that object. so it is bassically just sound dying out because the vibration has no longer the power to be carried through the air.
55842
An anechoic, sound-proof chamber can come very close.
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To protect your inner ear from dirt and dust. It's a blessing, not a curse. Better wax than impaired hearing from a spec of dirt that got inside your eardrum!
1182013
Air molecules are spread apart when its hot, and closer together when cold, which reflects on how sound is traveled
569887
When you experience auditory stimulation it is airwaves moving through your ear canals. When you cover up your ears with your palms you are limiting the airwaves going through so they have to squeeze through a small space. It works very much like when you close a window on a car while you're driving down the highway.
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I agree, a quiet work environment leads to enhanced concentration, thus better and more creative work.
79222
Those noises indicate the adjustment of the pressure inside your middle ear. \nThe middle ear cavity is separated from the exterior by the tympanic membrane, and the only connection of the middle ear with the exterior is by means of a duct connecting this cavity with the back of the nose (the Eustachian tube). This duct regulates the passage of air and is usually closed.\nNow, if the difference between the internal and external pressures becomes too high, the eardrum becomes too tense and does not vibrate adequately, thus sound reception becomes poorer.\nWhen you hear those noises it means that the pressures have been equalized by air entering the middle ear through the Eustachian tube, which is opened by muscles in the throat and palate that contract when swallowing and yawning.\nHowever, permanent/loud/unusual noises could indicate some blockage of the Eustachian tubes; better see a doctor about it.