MLO(s) Write the MARKS

0340868 (For number (For

Examiner’s of each Examiner’s
Use only, if question Use only)
applicable) attempted

2/2020
Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering
Computing Applications of Engineering

Covyn Yong

TOTAL MARKS

Bachelor of Mechanical
Covyn Yong Keen Lok 0340868 Engineering
Computing Applications of Engineering Covyn Yong
Question 1a)
Question 1b)
Question 2)
Introduction
This experiment is to compare how a person will react on a different level of noise in a different
place such as outdoor noise (motor vehicle, road-noise, truck), quiet room, rock music, quiet
office, and living hall. The noises are to be tested in decibel(dB) using an application from the
smartphone. Each level of noise will run 5 times.

Literature review
The app used to measure the voice level is called Sound Meter. This app measures the
environmental noise by using the built-in microphone in the smartphone devices, it has a ±1.0 dB
error and measures the noise level every second. The app also shows the average decibel,
minimum decibel, and maximum decibel. It also shows a graph with x-axis as the second(s) and
y-axis as the decibel values (dB).

Apps used in this experiment

This app can be downloaded from the Play Store (Android) or Appstore (IOS) and it is simple
and easy to use. Once the app is opened it will automatically measure the decibel values then the
values will show on the screen. After the first measurement is done, at the bottom of the app
there is a repeat button to repeat the measurement so that the first measurement and the second
measurement will not mix.

Study shows that different background noises human will have a different reaction. Such that
low-level noise of 60dB – 70dB will affect people’s concentration and may feel annoyed by the
noise such as noisy conversation, busy traffic, and vacuum cleaner. Other than that, high-level
noise of 80dB – 120dB can cause a lower efficiency in brain functioning and result in impaired
memory and learning. However, high-level noise depends on individual, some people listen to
loud music so that they feel relaxing and be better at studying. Long duration hearing high-level
noise of 120dB and above will cause hearing loss or pain injury to the ear.

Methodology
This experiment will be taken in a few places such as outdoor noise, quiet room, thunderstorm,
quiet office, and living hall to measure the noise level of each room. An app will be downloaded
in the phone to measure the noise level in decibels(dB). If the experiment is in a quiet place, the
fan will be closed to prevent air blowing into the microphone of the smartphone and the door
will be closed to get a higher accuracy of measurement. The purpose of choosing these different
places is because each place has a different noise level although a quiet room and quiet office
might be the same, but quiet offices have on-going printer, fax machines and maybe phone calls
where a quiet room will not have. For living hall, it has sounds from television, conversation
noise and noise from a cup of glass putting on the table.

Each place will be measure 5 times at different spots of the place to get an average decibel value.
Each spot will be measure for 15 seconds to get an average decibel value. The app will
automatically calculate the average decibel on that spot and show on the screen after 15 seconds.
Once the measurement is done, values will be recorded on the paper. After collecting all data,
Sum of Squares, Degree of Freedom, Mean square, and F ratio will be calculated. After
calculating the F ratio, the significance level of 5% will be used to make the comparison.

To do the calibration for the sound meter, additional of 2 same model smartphones is used. 2 of
the additional smartphones will be played a 50 decibels(dB) sound separately. One of the
additional smartphones put near the microphone of the measuring smartphone while playing the
50 decibels sound to get the calibration process done. Then, another additional smartphone was
played with the same sound and same volume to make sure the calibration is done correctly.
Results

Decibel Values (dB)

Places Total Average

1 2 3 4 5

Quiet room 40.4 40.3 41.7 39.1 39.3 200.8 40.16

Quiet office 52.9 53.7 49.7 45.9 45.3 247.5 49.5

Living Hall 64.3 65.6 71.3 69.7 65.4 336.3 67.26

Outdoor noise 81.7 79.5 82.7 76.9 79.2 400 80

Rock Music 99.8 95.7 101.7 88.7 92.7 478.6 95.72

Total 1663.2 332.64

Pictures to proof the data above, each picture represent one class.

Quiet room Quiet office Living hall

Outdoor noise Rock music

Sum of Squares

𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 = (39.12 + 40.32 + 41.72 + 40.42 + ⋯ + 95.72 + 101.72 + 88.72 + 92.72 )

1663.22
−
25

= 120979.4 − 110649.3696

= 10330.0304

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = 𝑁𝑁 − 1

= 25 − 1 = 24

1 1663.22
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 = [(200.82 + 247.52 + 336.32 + 4002 + 478.62 )] −
5 25

= 120746.508 − 110649.3696

= 10097.1384

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = 𝑎𝑎 − 1

=5−1=4

𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 = 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 − 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇

= 10330.0304 − 10097.1384

= 232.892

𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = 𝑁𝑁 − 𝑎𝑎

= 25 − 5 = 20

Mean Square

10097.1384
𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 =
5−1

= 2524.2846
 232.892
𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 =
5(5 − 1)

= 11.6446

𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇
𝐹𝐹0 =
𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸

2524.2846
=
11.6446

= 216.7773

𝐹𝐹𝛼𝛼 = 𝐹𝐹0.05,4,24 = 2.78 (𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐻𝐻1 )

𝐹𝐹𝛼𝛼 = 𝐹𝐹0.01,4,24 = 4.22 (𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐻𝐻1 )

𝐹𝐹𝛼𝛼 = 𝐹𝐹0.001,4,24 = 6.59 (𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝐻𝐻1 )

𝐹𝐹0 > 𝐹𝐹𝛼𝛼

Effect Estimates
40.16 − 332.64 = −292.48 (𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠, 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖)
Quiet room
49.5 − 332.64 = −283.14
Quiet office
67.26 − 332.64 = −265.38
Living Hall
80 − 332.64 = −252.64
Outdoor Noise
Rock Music 95.72 − 332.64 = −236.92 (𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙, 𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷)

Discussion

As shown from the calculations above, F0 = 216.7773. Significance of 5% is chosen and the
value is 2.78. Compare F0.05 with F0, F0 > F0.05 from here we can conclude that null hypothesis is
rejected and that is different places with different level of noise, people will react differently.
Quiet room has the lowest decibel among others which is 40.16 decibel(dB). Quiet office, living
hall, and outdoor noise have 49.5 dB, 67.6 dB, and 80 dB respectively. Rock music has the
highest decibel which is 95.72 dB. In a quiet room, people will feel calm and relax. In a quiet
office, sometimes people will feel a bit of disturbance because of the sound from the printer or
fax machine. In the living hall, some people will feel enjoy because they are in the conversation,
but some people may feel annoyed as they are focusing on something else. Most of the people
will feel annoyed by the car horn or road noise. Long duration in hearing these noise will cause
damage to ears. For rock music, some people will feel relax while listening, but some will feel
noisy as they do not used to it. Long duration listening to this music will cause hearing loss and
will be less productive on the next day.
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