Sounds like fun...
All I can relate this too of course is high school physics (I teach it yay)....
But... Sound travels jolly fast through solids - and as snakes hear with thier feet, they're sitting on solids.
Therefore vibrations are travelling up to 5000 m/s - this is much faster than sound travelling in air of course
330 m/s on an average day.
For a human tho, the problem comes from not knowing which way the direction of the sound came from. For example divers have trouble in water because sound travels at close to 3000 m/s.
Putting your ear on a railway track is all very good - you can hear a train coming because sound in steel travels at 5000 m/s (thereabouts - forgive me on symantics) but try telling which way the train is coming from...
I wonder if the snake can tell direction by where the sound hits the body - or if they really care - because the scent will tell them direction anyway...
Interesting... when you're finished can you post me a copy of the task sheet etc - I might be able to use it in school
Have fun!
