Temperature & Sound

Intensity
By Luke Geoghegan and Andrea Rispoli
 Temperature & Sound Intensity


Temperature & Sound Loudness

Intensity 
 110 to 225 dB –
Deafening, Jet aircraft
By Luke Geoghegan and Andrea Rispoli
 90 to 100 dB - Very Loud,

Intro Chainsaw

We chose this experiment because we were always curious as to  70 to 80 dB – Loud, Busy

why we could hear sounds much clearer at night. At first, we Road
believed that this was due to less background noise, but as we
 45 to 60 dB – Moderate,
continued with our experiment, we discovered some interesting
Average Home
results.
 30 to 40 dB – Faint, Quiet
The objectives of the experiment were simple, to find the effects
Bedroom
temperature had on sound intensity.
 0 - 20 dB - Very Faint,
This experiment has importance in everyday life. Companies Rustling leaves in the
could implement sound change with for example, exhaust sounds distance.
and how some exhausts may be below the legal limit during the
day, but over at night.

For reference;

Intro  1
 Temperature & Sound Intensity


P1
dB=10 × log10
P0

Aim
To investigate the effects temperature
has on sound intensity.

Background
Information
Sound intensity is defined as the sound power per unit area. The context in which this is usually used is
the loudness of sound at a listener’s location.

Decibels measure the ratio of a given intensity to the threshold of hearing intensity. To asses sound
loudness, sometimes the sensitivity of the ear must be factored in, as the ear can take in 0-130db of
noise. But since this experiment will base on specific results from a sound meter, this is not necessary.

When we were researching this task, we found a lot on the temperature’s effect of the speed of sound,
which is calculated by this formula;

−1 0.6 ms−1
V =331m s +
C ×T

Where V is the speed of sound and T is the temperature in the air.

But although somewhat similar to our experiment, it did not offer a definite enough conclusion to our
aim. So we measured the sound level through a concise method.

Hypothesis
Our hypothesis was that when the temperature decreases, the sound intensity at a set distance from the
speaker will increase (irrespective of background noise).

We have formed this hypothesis because of previous experience with sound, but without any scientific
proof.

Also, in colder weather, sound travels faster and that's why the sound barrier a.k.a. Mach speed is
given at Standard Atmosphere, which is 1013,25 hPa pressure and 15° C temperature.

Intro  2
 Temperature & Sound Intensity


Materials
 Decibel Meter
 Thermometer
 Speaker
 Constant Tone (for consistent measuring)
 USB Link
 Function Generator
 Music Player with tone
 Laptop with;
o Timer
o Datastudio
o USB Port
o Up to date weather information

Method

Intro  3
 Temperature & Sound Intensity


Setting Up
Set up all equipment, including USB Link and Decibel Meter, as well as
thermometer, laptop and timer.

Record Results
Record thermometer reading, and play the tone through the speakers.
While the tone is playing start the Data recording on the computer.
Continue the recording for 1 minute.

Interpreting Results
Once the data has been recorded, take the average of the recorded graph of
the sound section of the meter, and then record the mean of the one minute
recording

Repeat
Repeat the process at varying temperatures to get a consistent result,
repeating the trial at the same temperature if possible.

Intro  4