Acoustics 1

Acoustics (Part 1)
Dr. Sourav Mar

Assistant Professor, TIET, Patia
PhD, UCM Madr
Contents
 Acoustics and its importance

 Reverberation time
 Sabine’s and Eyring’s formulae (Qualitative idea)
 Absorption coefficient
 Method to measure absorption coefficient
 Applications of acoustics- Designing of hall for speech,
concert, and opera
Contents
 Acoustics and its importance

 Reverberation time
 Sabine’s and Eyring’s formulae (Qualitative idea)
 Absorption coefficient
 Method to measure absorption coefficient
 Applications of acoustics- Designing of hall for speech,
concert, and opera
Acoustics
What is acoustics?
Derived from the Greek word ἀκουστικός (akoustikos), meaning "of or for
hearing, ready to hear
Deals with the production, propagation, transmission, detection of sound

waves is called acoustics.
Classification of sound:
(i) Infrasonic –below 20 Hz (Inaudible)
(ii) Audible 20 to 20,000Hz (Music and Noise)
(iii) Ultrasonic - 20,000Hz (Inaudible)
Acoustics: Properties
Sound is a mechanical wave and therefore requires a medium to travel.
So, It is reflected, transmitted, or absorbed by the materials it encounters.
Soft surfaces: textiles, and batt insulation, tend to absorb sound waves,
preventing them from further motion.
Hard surfaces: ceramic tile, gypsum board, or wood, tend to reflect sound
waves, causing ‘echo’.
Dense, massive, materials: concrete or brick, tend to transmit sound

waves through the material.
Architectural Acoustics (Acoustics of Buildings)
Deals with design and construction of hall or rooms
Hall or rooms are acoustically poor due to;
• distribution of intensity is not uniform
• different frequency of sound interfere and reduces the quality
Symphony Hall
Philharmonie de Paris
Anechoic chamber
An anechoic chamber is a space in which there are no echoes or
reverberations.
The surfaces absorb all sound, and reflect none.
An anechoic chamber on the campus of Microsoft broke the world record with a
measurement of −20.6 dBA - officially the quietest place on the planet Earth
Quietest place on the planet Earth

Acoustics of the buildings
The branch of science which deals with the planning of a building to provide
the best quality audible sound to audience.
Any hall having the good acoustics should have following features:
 The quality of the speech/ music remains unchanged in each and every
portion of the Hall.
 The sound produced must be sufficiently loud.
 There shouldn't be any echo.
 The reverberation should be proper.
 There should not be any focusing of sound in any part of the hall.
 The walls should be sound proof to avoid the external noise in the hall
Reverberation
When a sound is produced inside a building, it expands and gets reflected

from all the surfaces, viz; walls, ceiling and floor of the hall. Audience will
receive a direct sound from the source followed by series of sounds
reflected and traveling towards him. These successive sounds will be of
diminishing intensity. Therefore listener will continue to receive the sound
even after the source of sound has stopped emitting. This is called as
reverberation.
The persistence or prolongation of sound in a hall even though the

sound source is stopped called Reverberation.
Reverberation time
The time taken by the sound wave to fall below the minimum audibility level
after the source is stopped.
Or
i.e. to fall to one millionth of its initial intensity, after the source is stopped.
and is the initial & final sound intensity level
If Reverberation Time is too low: Sound disappear quickly and become

inaudible.
If Reverberation Time is too high: Sound exist for a long period of time - an
overlapping of successive sounds results in unclear information.
Therefore, for the good audibility: Reverberation time should be optimum.
Optimum reverberation time
Activity in Hall Optimum Reverberation

Time (Sec)
Conference halls 1 to 1.5
Cinema theatre 1.3
Assembly halls 1 to 1.5
Public lecture halls 1.5 to 2
Music concert halls 1.5 to 2
Churches 1.8 to 3

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Acoustics (Part 1)

Dr. Sourav Mar

 Acoustics and its importance

 Acoustics and its importance

Deals with the production, propagation, transmission, detection of sound

Dense, massive, materials: concrete or brick, tend to transmit sound

Quietest place on the planet Earth

When a sound is produced inside a building, it expands and gets reflected

The persistence or prolongation of sound in a hall even though the

and is the initial & final sound intensity level

If Reverberation Time is too low: Sound disappear quickly and become

Activity in Hall Optimum Reverberation

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