Sound is a longitudinal wave that needs a material medium, such as air, water, or steel, to travel from one place to another. An experiment was conducted where an electric bell was placed inside a sealed bell jar - when the vacuum pump was turned on to remove the air, the sound of the bell became faint and disappeared, demonstrating that sound cannot travel through a vacuum and requires a medium like air, water, or steel to transmit vibrations and travel as sound waves.