Contents

i. Background information................................................................................................

ii. Theory............................................................................................................................

iii. Objectives of experiment...............................................................................................

iv. Equipment......................................................................................................................

v. Precautions.....................................................................................................................

vi. Procedures......................................................................................................................

vii. Result..............................................................................................................................

viii. Calculations....................................................................................................................

ix. Discussion.......................................................................................................................

x. Conclusion.....................................................................................................................

xi. References.......................................................................................................................
1. Individual background- Chin Yong Xin (18WVR11767)
Soundproof wall

 How to install soundproofing to soundproof a wall is illustrated in the illustration

below. 
 There is a layering system that you can apply to the starting point (finished wall or
exposed frame).
 Layer 1 is the density of a product called dB-Block. Staple it right to the existing
wall.
 Layer 2 is a set of channels or furring strips that go horizontally up the wall, anchor
these over the dB-Bloc and into the studs.
 Layer 3 is a new layer of 5/8” drywall that anchors to the face of the strip system to
form a new dead air pocket inside the assembly.  
 This 3-step layering system will deaden the majority of the noise bleeding through
common wall.

Figure 1.0: Installation of density disconnection (dB) block to wall

 The density of dB-Bloc prevents the wall assembly from being able to accept
vibrations.
 When these objects are unable to conduct vibration, they cannot produce or transmit
sound. Density kills vibration. The same holds true by placing the density of dB-
Bloc against your common wall.
 Vibrations die, the wall becomes unable to transfer the energy.
 The channel or furring strips are there to then force the disconnection.
 For existing finished wall assembly’s, this is accomplished with the channel system.
Individual background- Kok Meng Jin (18WVR03698)

 Brick is naturally thick and dense, which helps it block sound from passing through it.
 The thicker a material is, the more challenging it is for a sound wave to pass through
it.
 It is less likely to hear sound on the other side of a brick wall than you are of thinner,
more brittle substances such drywall.
 Recording studios often use brick for this reason because it helps block out outside
noise such as traffic or airplanes during the recording process.
 Brick is an effective starting point for soundproofing but should not be the only step
you take. 
 Cover the walls with cloth or with acoustic tiles to absorb sound in order to prevent
any echoing.
 Likewise, the addition of carpeting and furniture helps absorb sound so it doesn't
escape the room or travel any significant distance.
 The position of a sound's origin also plays a role in how the sound travels.
 An instrument played in the corner of the room facing the far corner sounds different
than the same instrument played right up against a wall.

Figure 1.1 Sound Proof Fabric Wall Panels

Individual Background - Tan Wei Qi (18WVR00499)

 Gypsum board is the widely wide-spread name for a own family of panel
merchandise that include a noncombustible middle, composed ordinarily of gypsum,
and a paper surfacing on the face, back and long edges.
 Gypsum board is often called drywall, wallboard, or plasterboard.
 Advantages of gypsum board construction are fire resistance, ease of installation,
sound isolation, durability, economy, versatility.
 Standard size gypsum forums are 48 inches huge and eight, 10, 12 or 14 ft long. The
48 inch width is like minded with trendy framing methods in which studs or joists are
spaced sixteen inches and 24 inches o.C.
 Edges available are rounded, tapered, beveled, square edge, and tongue and groove.

 It can be applied to masonry and concrete surfaces, either directly or to wood or

metal furring strips.
  Do not allow gypsum board to directly contact surfaces, such as concrete or soil,
with potentially high moisture contents.
Individual background- Soh Mun Sim (18WVR05979)

 A sound is any vibration(wave) travelling through the air or other medium which
may be heard while it reaches a person’s ear.
 Sound waves are Longitudinal and Mechanical, when an object vibrates, it creates
sound.
 Sound can also travel through solids and liquids, now not just gases.
 The speed of sound in liquids is quicker than in gases, and the rate of sound in
solids is even quicker.This is because the atoms are closer together, so they transfer
the sound more efficaciously.
 The loudness of a sound depends on the wave’s amplitude.The louder a sound, the
larger the amplitude.This is the way of measuring the amount of power the wave has.
 Pitch tells how high or low a sound is. A higher pitch could have greater frequency
and higher frequencies have smaller wavelengths.
 Sound waves may be absorbed with the aid of items. Higher frequencies are
absorbed more than lower frequencies.
 Sound proofing techniques employ surfaces that take in sound vibrations and
systems that minimize sound transference.
 Hard surfaces reflect sound waves; soft surfaces absorb them. The general idea is
to have more soft surfaces and substances.
 If you need to minimize sound bouncing around a room,alternative for “soft”
substances including acoustic ceilings and padded carpeting as opposed to hardwood,
tile, or laminates.
 With ceilings, as with the entire house, the most effective manner to minimize
noise is to combine some of distinctive sound-blocking and sound-discount methods.
 Mass Loaded Vinyl Sound Barrier is the soundproof vinyl solution to build noise
barriers and soundproof walls.

Figure 1.2 Mass Loaded Vinyl Sound Barrier

Figure 1.3 Effects of Mass Loaded Vinyl Sound Barrier
Experiment: Effects of Sound in a Building Demonstrator

Theory:

All sound in caused by vibrating objects. If there is no any adjacent material, the sound
would not transmit. Sound does not transmit in vacuum because there is no material to
carry it.

The intensity of sound is measured in decibels (dB). The value of intensity decreases as
the distance from the source increases. This is because as the distance increases, the
sound would spread out more. The intensity of the sound would decrease as the square of
the distance, that is, 1 1/r2.

Obejctive:

1. To determine the intensity of sound along the demonstrator when the measuring
instrument (sound level meter) is moved away from the speaker (energy source)

2. To determine the intensity of sound when it passed through different materials

such as plywood, concrete board and gypsum board.

Equipment:

Figure 1: Sound level meter Figure 2: Building Demonstrator

Figure 3: Plywood board Figure 4: Concrete board Figure 5: Gypsum board
Precautions:

1. Students performing the experiments should be supervised by the lecturers in charge.

2. The sound from the speaker is in high pitch. While performing this experiment, it is
better to wear some ear protection. Stop the experiment immediately when the ears feel
painful.
3. Switch off the power from the power point and the main supply when the Building
Demonstrator is not in use.
4. Pull off the plug from the power supply after turning it off, to prevent voltage surge
during thunderstorms.

Procedures:
Experiment A:

1. The demonstrator was set up by plugging into a 240 V AC single-phase 50 Hz supply.

2. All the four nuts were unscrewed at the end of the demonstrator, and the sound panel
was tightened.
3. The speaker wire was connected to a switch located above the power point at the side
of the control panel.
4. The speaker was turned ON, and the selector switch was switched to high. The
frequency and volume were turned to maximum position.
5. The sound intensity reading was taken and recorded for the distance 60 cm away from
the source.
The experiment was continued and the result was taken for different distance (120 cm and
180 cm) away from the speaker.

Experiment B:
1. The procedures were repeated for Experiment A from (1) to (4).
2. A piece of plywood was put into a black rack and placed it onto the demonstrator that
is located 60cm away from the sound source.
3. The sound intensity readings were taken and recorded immediately before and after the
sound travels though the plywood.
4. This experiment was continued by placing the rack at different distances (120 cm and
180 cm) away from the sound source.
5. The experiment was repeated by using different board.
Results
Experiment A:
Distance, d Intensity of sound (dB) Average
(cm) 1st 2nd 3rd reading
1. 60 90.5 90.0 90.5 90.3
2. 120 89.5 89.0 88.5 89.0
3. 180 79.0 86.0 86.5 83.8

Experiment B: Plywood Board

Distance, d (cm) Intensity of sound (dB) Transmission Sound reduction
coefficient Index
Reading before Reading after I2 T=I2/I1 R=10xlog10(1/T)
I1 (dB) (dB)
1. 60 102.0 92.0 0.90 11.1
2. 120 93.0 83.0 0.89 11.2
3. 180 92.5 81.0 0.88 11.3

Experiment C: Concrete Board

Distance, d (cm) Intensity of sound (dB) Transmission Sound reduction
coefficient Index
T=I2/I1 R=10xlog10(1/T)
Reading before Reading after I2
I1 (dB) (dB)
1. 60 94.0 95.0 1.0 10.0
2. 120 93.0 82.0 0.9 11.1
3. 180 95.0 80.0 0.8 12.5

Experiment D: Gypsum Board

Distance, d (cm) Intensity of sound (dB) Transmission Sound reduction
coefficient Index
T=I2/I1 R=10xlog10(1/T)
Reading before Reading after I2
I1 (dB) (dB)
1. 60 100.0 94.0 0.940 10.6
2. 120 94.0 84.0 0.893 11.2
3. 180 93.5 82.0 0.877 11.4
Discussion

1. Compare all the results and make some conclusion.

Answer:
 Through this experiment, we obtained that the further the sound level meter was
placed from the sound source, the lower the sound intensity.
 The better the insulator, the lower the sound intensity after the insulator.
 As we know, sound wave loses energy as they travel because the sound wave is
absorbed by other objects along the way when it travels.
 From this experiment, we know that the gypsum board is the best insulator as it is soft
and has more molecules which can absorb the sound wave travel from the sound
source followed by the concrete board then plywood which has the least molecules
compared to the concrete board and gypsum board and therefore it is the worst sound
insulator which results in it has the highest sound intensity among the three.

2. Discuss why this would happen.

Answer:
 Sound is the energy that produce when they vibrate as able to move back and forth
quickly.
 It would be like the light in some ways as it can travel out from a definite source such
as instrument or a machine that can produce loud sound.
 Its theory was just like light that travels out from the light source such as Sun and
light bulb.
 From experiment A, we can clearly define that the intensity of sound will decrease
when the distance increases.
 This is due to the sound wave is extending out over a circular as 2 dimensions or a
spherical as 3 dimensions surface that caused the energy of sound wave being
spreading over a greater surface area.
 Hence, the relationship between the intensity of sound and the distance are inverse.
 As for experiment B, C and D, the intensity of sound decreases by the matters as
plywood board, concrete board, and gypsum board absorb the wave length and
transfer it by the speaker.
 We can conclude that concrete board has the best sound insulation function. It has the
lowest intensity of sound among the three materials.
 As well as the concrete board has an inflexible mass to absorb the sound and prevent
from reflecting it away.
3. Discuss about their material and their application.
Answer:
 There are 3 materials used to study the intensity of sound and determine the sound
insulation of different materials.
 The 3 materials used was plywood board, concrete board and gypsum board.
 Firstly, plywood board has high impact resistance. It has the ability to accommodate
the occasional short-term overload, up to twice the design load.
 This is useful where seismic activity or cyclonic winds can occur.
 This property is also effective when used as construction flooring or as concrete
formwork.
 Plywood's laminated structure distributes loads from impact over a larger area on the
opposite face, which effectively reduces the tensile stress.
 It is usually used as cladding, doors, flooring, framing and shear walls

Figure 6: Exterior plywood cladding Figure 7: Stairway framing with plywood

 Secondly, concrete boards serve as backing for tile and is superior to paper-covered
gypsum at this task because of its resistance to water as tile is typically used in areas
prone to water exposure, it is important to have a backing that will not develop mold
and mildew or disintegrate after prolonged exposure to moisture.
 It is not waterproof. It absorb moisture well but it has excellent drying properties.
 It can only be cut using a carbide-tipped blade, which can produce a lot of dust and is
best done in a well-ventilated workshop area.
 Cement board is used anywhere tile is installed to add strength to the supporting
structure.

 It may also be applied to an existing wood floor to make way for new tile, on top of
cabinets to create counter tops, or installed horizontally on a wall to create a back
splash or provide a substrate for the application of plasters such as stucco.
 It can be used in exteriors or interiors and can be attached to both wood and steel
studs.
 Figure 8: Concrete board tile backer
 Thirdly, Gypsum board is the premier building material for wall, ceiling, and partition
systems in residential, institutional, and commercial structures and is designed to
provide a monolithic surface when joints and fastener heads are covered with a joint
treatment system.
 It has strong fire resistance.
 Gypsum products also provide sound control, economy, versatility, quality, and
convenience.

Figure 9: Gypsum ceiling

Figure 10: Gypsum board partition

Conclusion

 According to the result that we obtain from the experiment, we can conclude that the
shorter the distance between the sound level meter and speaker, the higher the
intensity of sound and vice versa.
 Sound wave is transmitted through vibration of particles and it also depends on the
density of the material which influences the transmission coefficient which the sound
wave passes through and distance that the sound wave travels.
 From the result, plywood board has the highest sound intensity when compare to
gypsum board and concrete board but it is not the most appropriate building material
for sound insulation due to it cannot withstand the pressure of building loads whereas
concrete has the lowest sound intensity.
 We tried to place the speaker before and after the material to study its sound
insulation.
 From the date, we know that the material which own the best sound insulation is
concrete board.
 It has strong barriers to absorb sound, highly-durable and impact-resistant.
 Lastly, the concrete board also has the highest transmission coefficient.
 The higher the transmission coefficient, the lower the sound reduction index.
References
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