Intensity of Sound

Intensity of sound at any point in space is defined as amount of vibrational energy passing per unit time per
unit area around that point in a direction normal to the area.

The greater the amplitude of vibrations of the particles of the medium, the greater the rate at which energy is
transported through it and more intense the sound wave is. Intensity is energy/time/area and since the ratio
energy/time is same to the quantity power, intensity can simply be defined as the power/area, that is,

SI unit for the intensity of sound is Watts/meter2.

Loudness
Loudness (L) is the sensation produced in the ear which enables a human being to distinguish between a loud
sound and a faint sound.

Relation between loudness (L) and intensity (I) is

 I 
L  log  
10  
Io

Where, Io is the threshold of hearing (lowest intensity of sound that can be perceived by the human ear. Most of the
human ears cannot hear sound of intensity less than 1 x 10-12 W/m2.

The decibel (dB) scale for measuring loudness is directly proportional to the square of the amplitude of the
vibration. Noise is defined as the sound above 80 dB. The following table gives us data about different sound sources.
Difference between intensity and loudness of sound

Decibels

The human ear has quite large range, being able to detect sound intensities from 1 x 10 -12 W / m2 to 1 W / m2.
A more convenient way to measure the loudness of sound is in decibels (dB). In decibels, the range of human hearing
is from 0 dB to 120 dB. The ear responds to the loudness of sound logarithmically, so the decibel scale is a
logarithmic scale, given as:

 I 
Sound intensity in decibels,   10log  
10  
Io

Where I is the intensity and Io is the threshold of hearing (1 x 10-12 W/m2).

On the decibel scale, doubling the intensity corresponds to an increase of 3 dB. This does not correspond to a
perceived doubling of loudness. We perceive loudness to be doubled when the intensity increases by a factor of 10.
This corresponds to a 10 dB increase. A change by 1 dB is about the smallest change a human being can detect.

The range of human hearing is quite large, both in terms of sound intensity and sound frequency. Humans can
hear sounds between about 20 Hz and 20000 Hz; music and speech typically covers the range from 100 Hz to 3000
Hz. The ear is most sensitive to sound of about 3000 Hz, as it is clear from the following graph:
Musical Notes
The world of music is based around combining and sequencing specific audio vibrations. These vibrations can
be produced by any type of instrument like vocals, strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, and even non-traditional
instruments like car horns and cooking pots. But to organize and sequence those audio vibrations, we arrange them
and give them names. They are called musical notes.

Reverberation: Definition

Reverberation is the phenomenon of persistence of sound after it has been stopped as a result of multiple
reflections from surfaces such as furniture, people, air, etc. within a closed surface. These reflections build up with
each reflection and decay gradually as they are absorbed by the surfaces of objects in the space enclosed

Advantages of Reverberation
Phenomenon of reverberation Reverberations is useful when it comes to musical symphonies and orchestra
halls, if right amount of reverberation is present, the sound quality gets enhanced drastically. The reverberation is
utilized by the producers of living or recorded music in order to enhance sound quality.

How can we reduce reverberations?

Reverberations can be reduced, if the surface of the objects in the nearby enclosed space is covered with
sound-absorbing material, the reflected sound will decay much quicker and the listener will thus receive only the
original sound. Porous materials such as mineral wool and fiberglass are examples of such absorbents. As the sound
waves penetrate mineral wool, sound energy gets converted to heat through friction.

Reverberation time:
The time interval taken by a sustained or continuous sound to fall to an intensity level equal to one millionth
of its original value (i.e. fall by 60 db in loudness) is called reverberation time. The Sabine formula relates the
reverberation time to the properties of the room as,

 V 
T  0.161 
S 

where V is the volume of the room, S the area of its surfaces, and α the absorption coefficient due to losses in the air
and at the surfaces.

Measuring Reverberation Time - Interrupted Method

Before measuring the reverberation time a source of noise must be introduced, and then removed. A pink
noise source is usually used for this purpose.

The RT60 is defined as the time taken for the sound to decay by 60 dB when the source is removed. In a real
environment this can be difficult to achieve, so it is more common to use the RT30 or RT20. These are based on the
time taken for the sound to decay by either 30 or 20 dB respectively, and this is then extrapolated to 60 dB.
When measuring the RT30 or RT20 the sound level meter should ignore the first 5 dB of decay. As you should also
avoid measuring any lower than 10 to 15 dB above the background noise, it means that your noise source should be at
least 45 dB above background for RT30 and 35 dB above background for RT20. It is for this reason that RT60 is
difficult to measure directly, as the background noise would have to be low and the noise source exceptionally high.

A lecture hall or auditorium should satisfy the following conditions in order to be

Acoustically good:

(a) The initial sound from the source should be of adequate intensity.

(b) The sound should spread evenly with proper loudness everywhere in the hall

(c) The sound of speech or music should be clear and words of or musical notes must be distinctly audible to all.

(d) All undesired or extraneous noise must be reduced to the extent that it will not interfere with normal hearing of
speech or hearing.

(e) Any distortion due to shape and size must be absent.

Methods of Design for Good Acoustics:

In order to make acoustically correct hall following points may be considered. These are merely the guidelines,
depending upon specific requirement a justified step be taken.

(a) Selection of proper site:

Avoid noisy places like railway tack, roads with heavy traffic, airports, industrial vicinity for auditorium.

(b) Volume :

 Size of the hall/ auditorium should be such that it remains optimum.

  Small halls leads to irregular distribution of sound because of formation of standing waves.
 Too big halls may also create a weaker intensity and larger reverberation time which is a very
serious issue.

(c) Shape :

 It is one of the most important parameter to be considered for acoustically correct hall.
 As the reflections are created by roof and side walls, they should be designed in such a way that
echos are not allowed to generate.
 In place of parallel walls, splayed side walls are preferred. Curved surface on walls, ceilings or
floor produce concentration of sound into particular region and absence of sound in other regions.
 Hence curved surface must be designed with proper care.

(d) Use of absorbents :

 Once the construction of hall is completed certain errors are found or the hall requires further
correction as far as acoustics are concerned. For this use of absorbents is very common.
 As the reflections from rear wall are of no use. It must be covered with absorbents, so as the
ceiling.
 False ceiling provided in large halls solves this problem effectively. The floor needs to be covered
with carpet so as unwanted reflections and the noise created by audience is suppressed.

(e) Reverberation :

 Reverberation time must be maintained in such a that it does not remain too short or too large i.e.
nearly 0.5 seconds for lecture hall, around 1.2 for concerts hall and around 2 for cinema halls.
 Proper use of absorbing materials, sufficient people as audience, presence of open windows
presence of furniture etc are the major components which can decide the reverberation time.
 Calculated use of such components will be helpful to either increase or decrease the reverberation
time.

(f) Echelon effect :

Fig. 1.3 : Echelon effect

 A set of railings or staircase or any regular spacing of reflected surfaces may produce a musical
note due to regular succession of echoes of the original sound to listener.
 This makes original sound to appear confused. Either one should avoid use of such surfaces or
keep them covered with thick carpet.
Absorption Coefficient
The absorption coefficient of a material is defined as the reciprocal of its area which absorbs the same sound
energy as absorbed by unit area of open window.