A barely audible sound moves air only a few atoms’ width

Evidence

The middle portion of the sound object used to be called the stationary or steady-state portion, but it is better to call it the body, because nothing about sound is ever really stationary. — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 444 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Air is a seething low-density molecular gas with constant collisions; Sound is alternating pressure condensations and rarefactions; Loud audible tones require only tiny surface velocities of millimeters per second (+1 more)

Related

• No part of a sound is ever truly stationary (similarity 0.90)
• Acoustic instrument sounds constantly change even during steady-state portions (similarity 0.83)
• Air is a seething low-density molecular gas with constant collisions (similarity 0.83)
• Even very loud sounds move air by only about a micron. (similarity 0.82)
• Lower temperature slows the speed of sound predictably via thermal molecular motion (similarity 0.80)
• Speed of sound depends on temperature, not pressure (similarity 0.80)
• Only accelerating surfaces, not steadily moving ones, generate airborne sound. (similarity 0.79)
• A bare string radiates almost no sound; the body is what makes music audible. (similarity 0.79)
• Sound information propagates slower than average molecular speed (similarity 0.79)
• Sound requires a physical medium and is fundamentally a mechanical disturbance (similarity 0.79)
• Sound speed in air varies only with the square root of absolute temperature (similarity 0.79)
• Speed of sound in a gas depends on temperature and molecular weight, not pressure (similarity 0.78)
• Air molecules collide billions of times per second yet occupy little volume (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Loud audible tones require only tiny surface velocities of millimeters per second #complicates (0.80)
• No part of a sound is ever truly stationary #corroborates (0.78) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 444