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Why does sound travel faster through water than through air?

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Acoustics — acoustics Artificial omni-directional sound source in an anechoic acoustic chamber.

Sound travels faster through water than through air primarily because of the physical properties of the medium. In physics, the speed of sound is determined by the ratio of the medium's elastic modulus—its ability to be compressed—to its density.12

Because the particles in liquids like water are packed much closer together than those in gases like air, sound waves can transmit more efficiently. This closer proximity allows the mechanical disturbances that constitute sound to propagate more rapidly from one particle to the next. While the speed of sound in dry air at 0 °C is approximately 331.29 meters per second, it reaches about 1,439 meters per second in water at 8 °C.34