Sounds like maybe you want acoustic impedance ? Just like optical index mismatch, or electrical impedance mismatch, you get reflections at discontinuities. Neat stuff!
Not exactly sure what you mean by air-water-air “dampening,” but my suspicion is that you’re referring to sound being reflected at each interface, so the transmission is reduced. Antireflective coating, index matching, impedance matching are all rich topics in physics and electronics!
Not at all in this case though! Or rather, it depends on your perspective.
“Why doesn’t electricity leak out the outlet?” is a good question, if you know nothing about electricity.
“Why doesn’t electricity leak out the outlet?” is a little stupid, if you know a little about electricity.
“Why doesn’t electricity leak out the outlet?” is a great question if you know a bit more about electricity (because it does leak out, it’s just that 50/60Hz doesn’t couple to freespace well unless you have a colossal antenna).
As to this question, light in moving media: https://preprints.opticaopen.org/articles/preprint/Fizeau_Experiment_Investigating_the_Speed_of_Light_in_Moving_Media/25441108?file=45147313