Sound Level

– Ts Norishahaini Mohamed Ishak

– Centre of Studies for Construction
– Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying
– UiTM Shah Alam
 Outline

§ Sound Power
§ Sound Intensity
§ Sound Pressure
Sound Level § Sound Level and Decibel Scale
§ Sound Power Level, LW
§ Sound Intensity Level, LI
§ Sound Pressure Level, SPL
§ Adding Sound Pressure Level
§ Attenuation of Sound

§ Sound Propagation
 After reading this lesson, students will be able to :

§ Define and differentiate the sound level - sound power,

sound intensity and sound pressure

Lesson § Define and differentiate sound power level (LW), Sound

Outcome intensity level (LI) and sound pressure level (SPL)

§ Calculate the conversion to decibel (dB)

§ Calculate more than one SPL value.

§ Describe the attenuation of sound

Sound Power
§ Sound Power is the rate at which sound energy is produced at the source and
transferred per second from the source to the air.

§ The energy emitted by a sound wave remains constant over time and doesn’t
change with distance (conservation of energy). Increasing the distance from the
source (radius) increases the area covered by the sound wave

§ When sound propagates through a medium acoustic sound power is transferred.

§ The SI-unit for sound power is J/s or watt (W)

§ A noise source, such as a compressor or drum, has a given, constant sound

power that does not change if the source is placed in a different environment.

§ The lowest human hearable for sound power is 1 x 10-12 W

http://blog.soton.ac.uk/soundwaves/files/2013/12/
monopolfinalptpt.gif
Sound Power

http://blog.soton.ac.uk/soundwaves/files/2013/12/
monopolfinalptpt.gif

The energy emitted by a sound wave remains constant over time and
doesn’t change with distance (conservation of energy). Increasing the
distance from the source (radius) increases the area covered by the
sound wave
Sound Intensity
§ The sound intensity is the sound power transmission through a surface or the
amount of energy carried by sound waves per unit time through a given area

§ Commonly referred to as the “loudness” of a sound

!
§ Can be expressed as, 𝐼= - (1)
"
where,
I = sound intensity (W/m2)
W = sound power through surface area (W)
A = surface area (m2)

§ the SI-unit for sound intensity is W/m2

§ The lowest human hearable for sound intensity is 1 x 10-12 W/m2
Sound Intensity
§ The sound intensity from a point source of sound will obey the inverse square
law if there are no reflections or reverberation.

§ Sound waves with high intensity have a high energy and therefore a high
amplitude

§ The intensity of a sound decreases the further you move away from the source

§ If the power of the sound wave remains the same and the area covered by the
wave increases, then the intensity will decrease the further away we move from
the source
Sound Intensity
§ The intensity of a sound wave is uniformly
distributed at the same distance Moving
around a point at a constant distance will
produce no change in intensity or
“loudness”.

§ Note: for 3D waves, the area a sound wave

travels through is a sphere
W
!
§ Therefore , 𝐼=
"
!
I= - (2)
"#$!
Inverse Square Law
Sound Pressure

§ Sound Pressure is the sound force (N) acting on the surface area (m2)
perpendicular to the direction of the sound.

§ Sound is usually measured with microphones responding proportionally to

the sound pressure. The power in a sound wave goes as the square of the
pressure.

§ The SI-unit for sound pressure is Pa or N/m2

§ The lowest human hearable for sound intensity is 20 x 10-6 Pa

Sound Level and Decibel (dB) Scale
§ Decibel is a logarithmic unit used to describe ratios of physical values - like
power, sound pressure, voltage, intensity and more.

§ The decibel express the level of a value relative to a reference value

§ The decibel level of a signal can be expressed as

"
𝐿 = 10 log( ) - (3)
"!"#

where,
L = signal level (decibel, dB) can be in power, intensity or pressure
S = signal – intensity, power 0r pressure level (signal unit)
Sref = reference signal (threshold) - intensity, power or pressure
level (signal unit)
Sound Level and Decibel (dB) Scale cont.

§ Decibel is a dimensionless value of relative ratios. The signal units depends on the
nature of the signal - can be W for power or Pa for pressure

§ If the decibel value and reference level are known the absolute signal level can be
calculated by transforming (3) to
!
("#)
𝑆 = 𝑆𝑟𝑒𝑓 10 - (4)

§ The threshold of hearing varies slightly from one to another.

Ø Intensity = 1 x 10-12 W/m2 (when measured as power or intensity)

Ø Pressure = 20 x 10-6 Pa (when measured as pressure)
Sound Level and Decibel (dB) Scale cont.
§ Example : Calculate the lowest hearable of Sound Power.

Thus, S and Sref = 10-12 Watts

Therefore, the sound power (W) in decibel (dB) from a source with the lowest sound
hearable can be calculated as,

!
𝐿 = 10 log( )
!!"#

!"!"# #
= 10 log( !"# )
!" #

= 0 𝑑𝐵
Sound Power Level, LW
§ The conversion of sound power (W) to Sound Power Level (dB) can more
practically be expressed in a logarithmic scale as the ratio of sound power to the
sound power at the threshold of hearing = 1 x 10-12 W

§ Sound power levels or LW or LWP are determined by the following formula:

LW (dB) = 10 log (Sound Power / Reference Sound Power)

= 10 log W / W0 (similar to equation (3) in slide 10) - (5)

Reference sound power, W0 = 10-12 W

Therefore,
LW = 10 log (W /10-12)
= 10 log W – 10 log 10-12

LW (dB) = 10 log W + 120 - (6)

Sound Power Level, LW

§ The lowest sound power persons with excellent

hearing can discern is about 10-12 W - defined
as 0 dB in the decibel scale.

§ The loudest sound power generally possible to

encounter is that of a jet aircraft with a sound
power of 105 W - 170 dB.

please test your calculation using equation (6)

Sound Intensity Level, LI

§ The conversion of sound intensity (W) to Sound Sntensity Level (dB) can more
practically be expressed in a logarithmic scale with reference to the lowest
human hearable sound - 10-12 W/m2 (0 dB).

§ Sound intensity levels or LI or LIP are determined by the following formula:

LI (dB) = 10 log (I / Iref)

= 10 log10(I) + 120 - (7)

where
LI = sound intensity level (dB)
I = sound intensity (W/m2)
Iref = 10-12 - reference sound intensity - the threshold of hearing (W/m2)
Sound Pressure Level, SPL
§ The conversion of sound pressure (Pa) to Sound Pressure Level (dB) can more
practically be expressed in a logarithmic scale as the ratio of sound pressure to the
sound pressure at the threshold of hearing = 2 x 10-5 Pa

§ Sound pressure levels or LP or SPL are determined by the following formula:

SPL (dB) = 10 log (Square Sound Pressure / Square Reference Sound Pressure)
= 10 log Pa2 / Pa20
= 10 log (Pa / Pa)20
= 20 log Pa / Pa0 - (8)

Reference sound pressure, Pa0 = 2 x 10-5 Pa

Therefore,
SPL = 20 log (Pa /2 x 10-5)
= 20 log Pa – 20 log (2 x 10-5)

= 20 log Pa + 94 - (9)
Sound Pressure Level, SPL

§ The lowest sound pressure persons with

excellent hearing can discern is about
2 x 10-5 Pa - defined as 0 dB in the decibel
scale.

§ The loudest sound pressure generally

possible to encounter is that of a pneumatic
chipper with a sound pressure of 20 Pa - 120
dB.

please test your calculation using equation (9)

Adding Sound Pressure Level, SPL
§ Since SPLs are based on a log scale, they cannot be added directly, thus the following
formula is used:

) - (10)
"*+&
𝑆𝑃𝐿% = 10 log + 10 (,
&'(

§ Example: Adding Equal Signal Levels

Given two machines producing at 80 dB each, what is the total SPL?

-*+$ -./%
= 10 log 10 (, + 10 (,
0, 0,
= 10 log 10 (, + 10 (,

= 10 log 2 x 10 0
= 83 dB
Adding Sound Pressure Level (SPL)

§ Important rule of thumb:

Ø Adding two sound pressure pressure of equal value will always result in 3
dB increase !
Ø For example: 80 dB + 80 dB = 83 dB
90 dB + 90 dB = 93 dB
70 dB + 70 dB = 73 dB

Ø What if we adding equal three SPLs? How many dBs increase? Try it !
Attenuation of Sound – by air

§ Sound attenuation is related to the speed or velocity

of sound.

§ When sound waves spread out from a source they

attenuate which is it’s amplitude decreases and the
sound level drops.

§ Distance also affects sound by the molecular

absorption energy in the carrying medium

§ Loud noises at great distance are heard at the lower

pitch (e.g. thunder) due to the frequency
components have been filtered out by the air.

§ When air is moving, there is always a wind gradient

Attenuation of Sound – by air

§ Air Absorption

Ø Some of the energy of a sound waves is spent in alternately compressing and

expanding air.

Ø The attenuation is increased at low humidity.

Ø The velocity of sound is greater in warm air than cold air

Ø Open air has layers at different temperatures and sound waves crossing these
layers are deflected by the process of refraction

Ø E.g. sound travels along the ground better at night than during the day due to
the relative changes in the temperature of the air lying next to the ground.
During the day sound is refracted upwards and downwards at night
Attenuation of Sound – by air
§ Wind Effects

Ø Sound waves will be affected by any wind blowing between the source and the
receiver.

Ø The velocity of wind increases with height above the ground and this gradient
deflects the sound waves upwards and downwards.

§ Ground Attenuation

Ø Some sound energy can be absorbed by passing over the surface of the
ground and only applies within 6 meters of the ground which must be free
from obstruction.

Ø Hard surfaces such as paving provides little attenuation but surfaces such as
grassland can provide a reduction of overall noise level of 5 dB
Adding Sound Pressure Level, SPL

Tutorials

1. Calculate the total sound pressure level caused by the combination of sound
levels of

a) 95 db and 90 dB.

b) 80 db, 70 dB and 90 dB

c) 78 dB, 71 dB and 88 dB

d) 56 dB, 67 dB and 70 dB