Question

use the particle model of matter to explain why sound travels faster through the ground than through air

Answer 1

Sound travels faster in a solid because the particles are right next to each other
so it is faster to vibrate whereas the air particles are further apart and take longer to travel.So yes it travels fast through the ground than through air.

Answer 2

The ground is a solid structure unlike air. Thus, sound waves would be able to travel faster through a medium in which the particles are tightly packed next to each other than a medium with large intermolecular spaces. The "particle model of matter" states that matter comprises of minute particles.

Based on the distance between these particles, matter is classified as solid, liquid, and gas. Sound is a "form of energy" which is carried by the vibrations/ oscillations of the molecules in a given medium, which is the reason why sound cannot travel through vacuum due to the lack of matter.

Thus, closely packed molecules of the ground would be better at conducting sound waves than that of air.