CHANGES IN THE DIRECTION OF SOUND

FOUR CATEGORIES OF PHENOMENA

REFLECTION
REFRACTION
DIFFRACTION
DIFFUSION

Reflection
WHEN

A SOUND WAVE ENCOUNTERS A

SHARP DISCONTINUITY IN THE DENSITY OF ITS
MEDIUM, SOME OF ITS ENERGY IS REFLECTED.

REFELECTED

SOUND ENERGY FOLLOWS THE

LAW OF OPTICS, REFLECTED ENERGY HAVE
EQUAL ANGLES OF REFLECTION AND
INCIDENCE.

Diffusion
THE

REFLECTION OF SOUND OFF A

CONVEX OR UNEVEN SURFACE.

THE

PROCESS OF SPREADING OR
DISPERSING RADIATED ENERGY SO THAT IT
IS LESS DIRECT OR COHERENT.

reflection.htm

Refraction
THE

DIRECTION OF SOUND IS ALTERED WHEN

SOUNDWAVES ENCOUNTER CHANGES IN
MEDIUM CONDITIONS THAT ARE NOT
EXTREME ENOUGH TO CAUSE REFLECTION,
BUT ARE ENOUGH TO CHANGE THE SPEED OF
SOUND.

Diffraction
THE

BENDING OF THE TRAVEL OF SOUND

CAUSED BY AN OBSTACLE IN ITS PATH.

THE

BENDING OF WAVES AROUND SMALL

OBSTACLES AND THE SPREADING OUT OF
WAVES BEYOND SMALL OPENINGS.

diffrac.html

Sound Power - is the energy rate - the energy of sound per unit
of time from a sound source.
- total sound power emitted by a source in all directions.
(Joules/second, Watts in SI-units)
Sound Pressure - is the force (N) of sound on a surface area
(m2) perpendicular to the direction of the sound.
(Newton / sq. meter or Pascal)
Sound pressure is proportional to the square root of the
intensity. And conversely, intensity is proportional to the
pressure squared .

Sound Intensity - The amount of energy which is transported

past a given area of the medium per unit of time.
or

Intensity = Energy / Time x Area

Intensity = Power / Area (Watts / sq. meter)

Inverse Square Law - The mathematical relationship between intensity and

distance. As the intensity varies inversely with the square of the distance
from the source.

Physical law stating that some physical quantity or strength is inversely

proportional to the square of the distance from the source of that physical
quantity.
If the distance from the source is doubled (increased by a factor of 2), then
the intensity is quartered (decreased by a factor of 4).

The scale for measuring intensity is the decibel scale

The Decibel The decibel (dB) is used to measure
sound level
- is the unit used to measure the intensity of a sound.
- is a logarithmic unit used to describe the ratio of the
signal level of power, sound pressure or intensity

``Threshold of audibility'':
0 dB SPL; this sound corresponds to an intensity of
1x10-12 W/m2
``Threshold of Pain'':
160 dB SPL; this sound corresponds to an intensity of
1x104 W/m2

Source

Intensity

Intensity
Level

# of Times
Greater Than TOH

Threshold of Hearing (TOH)

1x10-12 W/m2

0 dB

100

Rustling Leaves

1x10-11 W/m2

10 dB

101

Whisper
Normal Conversation
Busy Street Traffic
Vacuum Cleaner
Large Orchestra
Walkman at Maximum Level
Front Rows of Rock Concert
Threshold of Pain
Military Jet Takeoff
Instant Perforation of Eardrum

1x10-10 W/m2
1x10-6 W/m2
1x10-5 W/m2
1x10-4 W/m2
6.3x10-3 W/m2
1x10-2 W/m2
1x10-1 W/m2
1x101 W/m2
1x102 W/m2
1x104 W/m2

20 dB
60 dB
70 dB
80 dB
98 dB
100 dB
110 dB
120 dB
140 dB
160 dB

102
106
107
108
109.8
1010
1011
1012
1014
1016

The threshold of hearing is assigned a sound level of 0 decibels

(abbreviated 0 dB); this sound corresponds to an intensity of
1x10-12 W/m2. A sound which is 10 times more intense ( 1x10-11
W/m2) is assigned a sound level of 10 dB. A sound which is
10x10 or 100 times more intense ( 1x10-10 W/m2) is assigned a
sound level of 20 db. A sound which is 10x10x10 or 1000 times
more intense ( 1x10-9 W/m2) is assigned a sound level of 30 db. A
sound which is 10x10x10x10 or 10000 times more intense
(1x10-8 W/m2) is assigned a sound level of 40 db. Observe that
this scale is based on powers or multiples of 10. If one sound is
10x times more intense than another sound, then it has a sound
level which is 10xn more decibels than the less intense sound.

Calculating Decibels
Number of
Sources

Increase in
Sound Power
Level
( dB)

Sound Power
Level Difference
between
two Sound
Sources
(dB)

Added Decibel to
the Highest
Sound Power
Level
(dB)

2.5

4.8

1.5

10

10

15

11.8

0.5

0.5

10 or more

20

13

Sound Control
As sound strikes a surface, it is transmitted,
reflected or absorbed
Absorption is used to reduce sound levels in a
room
Insulation is used to control transmission of
sound in two different environments
Redirection is done by reflecting sounds within
a room.

Reverberation vs. Echo

Reverberation
is perceived when the reflected
sound wave reaches your ear in
less than 0.1 second after the
original sound wave.
is continued, multiple reflections.

Echo
occur when a reflected sound
wave reaches the ear more than
0.1 seconds after the original
sound wave was heard.

Reverberation Time
Physically is the time in seconds that it takes for a
sound source to reduce in sound pressure level by
a factor of 60db after that sound has been silenced.
Mathematically T = 0.16 V / A
Where:
T = reverberation time
V = volume in cubic meters
A = total absorption in square meters
(sum of room surfaces times their sound absorption coefficients)
A = S1 1 + S2 2 + .. + Sn n = Si i

RT is directly proportional to the volume of a room

and inversely proportional to the absorption of the
materials in the room.

Optimum Reverberation Time

Optimum_Reverb_Times.pdf

Noise Reduction Coefficient

is the average of the

sound absorption coefficient at 250, 500, 1000, and
2000 Hz for a specific material and mounting
condition.
The Sound Absorption Coefficient indicates how
much of the sound is absorbed in the actual
material.

Absorption Coefficient for some Common Materials

Material

Sound Absorption Coefficient -

Plaster walls

0.01 - 0.03

Unpainted brickwork

0.02 - 0.05

Painted brickwork

0.01 - 0.02

3 mm plywood panel

0.01 - 0.02

6 mm cork sheet

0.1 - 0.2

6 mm porous rubber sheet

0.1 - 0.2

12 mm fiberboard on battens

0.3 - 0.4

25 mm wood wool cement on battens

0.6 - 0.07

50 mm slag wool or glass silk

0.8 - 0.9

12 mm acoustic belt

0.5 - 0.5

Hardwood

0.3

25 mm sprayed asbestos

0.6 - 0.7

Acoustic tiles

0.4 - 0.8

Sample Computation
Compute for the
reverberation time in
the given space.

T=0.16V / A

NOISE REDUCTION
NR = 10 log (A2/A1)

where: NR = room noise reduction (dB)

A2 = total room absorption from
treatment
A1 = Total room absorption before
treatment