What is the approximate speed of sound in air at sea level?

Sound travels approximately 343 m/s (about 1,125 ft/s or 767 mph) in air at 20°C at sea level. Sound is a pressure wave that needs a medium, and its speed depends on that medium and the temperature — it travels faster in warmer air, faster still in water (about 1,480 m/s) and fastest in solids such as steel (roughly 5,000–6,000 m/s). The distractor 1,126 is the speed in feet per second, not metres; 30 m/s is roughly highway car speed; 3,000 m/s is in the range for solids, not air. Light, by contrast, travels about 300,000,000 m/s, which is why lightning is seen before thunder is heard.