Sound travels as longitudinal waves through a medium such as solid, liquid, or gas. When an object vibrates, it disturbs the particles of the surrounding medium and creates an area where the particles are closer together (compression) and an area where they are further apart (rarefaction). These compressions and rarefactions travel through the medium as a sound wave. The wavelength is the distance between two compressions, and the frequency is the number of waves produced per second. A higher frequency means a higher pitch. Sound travels fastest through solids, then liquids, then gases.