how do light and sound travel
How light travels. Light travels as waves. These are transverse waves, like the ripples in a tank of water. The direction of vibration in the waves is at 90Â° to the direction that the light travels. Light travels in straight lines, so if you have to represent a ray of light in a drawing, always use a ruler. Unlike sound waves, light waves can travel through a vacuum (empty space).
Sound can only travel through a material. It will travel through air, through walls (and other solid objects), and through water and other liquids. On the other hand, a light wave is not made of vibrating particles. It is a wave of changing electric and magnetic fields which can exist in a vacuum.