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    The Decibel

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    PallaviShivamani
    The decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to describe ratios of power, sound pressure, voltage or intensity. 0 dB represents a sound level where the measured intensity is equal to the reference level, not no sound. Negative dB values are possible and represent levels lower than the reference. The ear perceives sound logarithmically, so decibels are useful for representing the large range of audible sound intensities, with a ratio of a million representing a 120 dB difference.

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    The Decibel

    Uploaded by

    PallaviShivamani
    29 views1 page
    The decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to describe ratios of power, sound pressure, voltage or intensity. 0 dB represents a sound level where the measured intensity is equal to the reference level, not no sound. Negative dB values are possible and represent levels lower than the reference. The ear perceives sound logarithmically, so decibels are useful for representing the large range of audible sound intensities, with a ratio of a million representing a 120 dB difference.

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    The decibel

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    The decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to describe ratios of power, sound pressure, voltage or intensity. 0 dB represents a sound level where the measured intensity is equal to the reference level, not no sound. Negative dB values are possible and represent levels lower than the reference. The ear perceives sound logarithmically, so decibels are useful for representing the large range of audible sound intensities, with a ratio of a million representing a 120 dB difference.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    29 views1 page

    The Decibel

    Uploaded by

    PallaviShivamani
    The decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to describe ratios of power, sound pressure, voltage or intensity. 0 dB represents a sound level where the measured intensity is equal to the reference level, not no sound. Negative dB values are possible and represent levels lower than the reference. The ear perceives sound logarithmically, so decibels are useful for representing the large range of audible sound intensities, with a ratio of a million representing a 120 dB difference.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    The decibel ( dB) is used to measure sound level, but it is also widely used in

    electronics, signals and communication. The dB is a logarithmic unit used to


    describe a ratio. The ratio may be power, sound pressure, voltage or intensity or
    several other things. Later on we relate dB to the phon and the sone (units related
    to loudness). But first, to get a taste for logarithmic units, let's look at some
    numbers

    white noise is a mix of all audible frequencies (just as white light is a mix of all
    visible frequencies).

    What does 0 dB mean? This level occurs when the measured intensity is equal to the
    reference level. i.e., it is the sound level corresponding to 0.02 mPa. In this case we have

    sound level = 20 log (pmeasured/preference) = 20 log 1 = 0 dB

    Remember that decibels measure a ratio. 0 dB occurs when you take the log of a ratio of 1
    (log 1 = 0). So 0 dB does not mean no sound, it means a sound level where the sound pressure is
    equal to that of the reference level. This is a small pressure, but not zero. It is also possible to
    have negative sound levels: - 20 dB would mean a sound with pressure 10 times smaller than the
    reference pressure, ie 2 μPa.

    Why do we use decibels? The ear is capable of hearing a very large range of
    sounds: the ratio of the sound pressure that causes permanent damage from short
    exposure to the limit that (undamaged) ears can hear is more than a million. To
    deal with such a range, logarithmic units are useful: the log of a million is 6, so this
    ratio represents a difference of 120 dB. Psychologists also say that our sense of
    hearing is roughly logarithmic (see under sones below). In other words, they think
    that you have to increase the sound intensity by the same factor to have the same
    increase in loudness

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