Final answer:
Sound travels fastest in solids due to their rigidity and tightly packed particles, slower in liquids, and slowest in gases where the medium is compressible and particles are more spread out.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sound travels at different speeds in various phases of matter because of the medium's rigidity and density. We rank the phases of matter from the one in which sound travels fastest to the one in which it travels slowest as follows:
- Solids - Sound travels fastest because they are the most rigid and particles are tightly packed.
- Liquids - Sound speed is slower than in solids but faster than in gases, due to less rigidity compared to solids but particles are still closer together than in gases.
- Gases - Sound travels the slowest because gases are compressible and less dense, with particles far apart making it harder for sound waves to transfer energy.
Thus, the order is solids, liquids, and gases.