I have access to quite a lot of science journals and articles.
I'll post stuff when I get home If I remember.
Sound pases through objects like a slinky wave. Air molecules are normally vibrating. When a sound is travelling in the air the molecules bounce off each other continuing the sound wave. They don't move very far. They get hit, bounce into another molecule, and transfer the energy on.
Same with solids. Except much faster because the atoms or molecules are packed much more closely.
For a very good understanding of the physics behind sound see
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html
Snakes would be able to hear on the Moon, because as said before they hear vibrations in the ground. Provided the sound originated from the ground, or at least on top of it, the sound will propagate through the ground to the snake.
If it's floating in the air it won't hear anything due to lack of atmosphere and a medium for propagation.
If I was standing on the moon and shouting at the top of my lungs, the snake won't hear it due to poor transfer of the sound through my bosy and into the ground.
You'd also have to look at how dense the moon's surface is.
If it's lightly packed, like fresh snow, the snake would have a poor time hearing, even through the ground.
But if it's harder, like soil or rock, then it's hearing range increases.
You also have to keep in mind that sound energy diminishes the further away it gets. Sure sound travels at kms at a time per second in solids/liquids, but if it's really far away you still won't hear it.
The atomic collsions I mentioned before, aren't purely elastic. Energy is lost as heat the further it goes, and also the concentration of energy decays too. Like a ripple in water. The further away it gets, the more spaced out the rings get.
slim6y, would sound in the ground's surface follow the Inverse Square law? Or is that only for three dimensions? I'm sure there's still a relationship for a psuedo one-dimension situation of sound on the surface.
