Decibel to real world noise
- Thread starter Nelly
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Comparative Examples of Noise LevelsComparative Examples of Noise Sources, Decibels
& Their EffectsNoise SourceDecibel LevelDecibel EffectJet take-off (at 25 meters)150Eardrum ruptureAircraft carrier deck140 Military jet aircraft take-off from aircraft carrier with afterburner at 50 ft (130 dB).130 Thunderclap, chain saw. Oxygen torch (121 dB).120Painful. 32 times as loud as 70 dB.Steel mill, auto horn at 1 meter. Turbo-fan aircraft at takeoff power at 200 ft (118 dB). Riveting machine (110 dB); live rock music (108 - 114 dB).110Average human pain threshold. 16 times as loud as 70 dB.Jet take-off (at 305 meters), use of outboard motor, power lawn mower, motorcycle, farm tractor, jackhammer, garbage truck. Boeing 707 or DC-8 aircraft at one nautical mile (6080 ft) before landing (106 dB); jet flyover at 1000 feet (103 dB); Bell J-2A helicopter at 100 ft (100 dB).1008 times as loud as 70 dB. Serious damage possible in 8 hr exposureBoeing 737 or DC-9 aircraft at one nautical mile (6080 ft) before landing (97 dB); power mower (96 dB); motorcycle at 25 ft (90 dB). Newspaper press (97 dB).904 times as loud as 70 dB. Likely damage 8 hr expGarbage disposal, dishwasher, average factory, freight train (at 15 meters). Car wash at 20 ft (89 dB); propeller plane flyover at 1000 ft (88 dB); diesel truck 40 mph at 50 ft (84 dB); diesel train at 45 mph at 100 ft (83 dB). Food blender (88 dB); milling machine (85 dB); garbage disposal (80 dB).802 times as loud as 70 dB. Possible damage in 8 hr exposure.Passenger car at 65 mph at 25 ft (77 dB); freeway at 50 ft from pavement edge 10 a.m. (76 dB). Living room music (76 dB); radio or TV-audio, vacuum cleaner (70 dB).70Arbitrary base of comparison. Upper 70s are annoyingly loud to some people.Conversation in restaurant, office, background music, Air conditioning unit at 100 ft60Half as loud as 70 dB. Fairly quietQuiet suburb, conversation at home. Large electrical transformers at 100 ft50One-fourth as loud as 70 dB.Library, bird calls (44 dB); lowest limit of urban ambient sound40One-eighth as loud as 70 dB.Quiet rural area30One-sixteenth as loud as 70 dB. Very QuietWhisper, rustling leaves20 Breathing
10
Barely audible
just thought this might intersest some of you
& Their EffectsNoise SourceDecibel LevelDecibel EffectJet take-off (at 25 meters)150Eardrum ruptureAircraft carrier deck140 Military jet aircraft take-off from aircraft carrier with afterburner at 50 ft (130 dB).130 Thunderclap, chain saw. Oxygen torch (121 dB).120Painful. 32 times as loud as 70 dB.Steel mill, auto horn at 1 meter. Turbo-fan aircraft at takeoff power at 200 ft (118 dB). Riveting machine (110 dB); live rock music (108 - 114 dB).110Average human pain threshold. 16 times as loud as 70 dB.Jet take-off (at 305 meters), use of outboard motor, power lawn mower, motorcycle, farm tractor, jackhammer, garbage truck. Boeing 707 or DC-8 aircraft at one nautical mile (6080 ft) before landing (106 dB); jet flyover at 1000 feet (103 dB); Bell J-2A helicopter at 100 ft (100 dB).1008 times as loud as 70 dB. Serious damage possible in 8 hr exposureBoeing 737 or DC-9 aircraft at one nautical mile (6080 ft) before landing (97 dB); power mower (96 dB); motorcycle at 25 ft (90 dB). Newspaper press (97 dB).904 times as loud as 70 dB. Likely damage 8 hr expGarbage disposal, dishwasher, average factory, freight train (at 15 meters). Car wash at 20 ft (89 dB); propeller plane flyover at 1000 ft (88 dB); diesel truck 40 mph at 50 ft (84 dB); diesel train at 45 mph at 100 ft (83 dB). Food blender (88 dB); milling machine (85 dB); garbage disposal (80 dB).802 times as loud as 70 dB. Possible damage in 8 hr exposure.Passenger car at 65 mph at 25 ft (77 dB); freeway at 50 ft from pavement edge 10 a.m. (76 dB). Living room music (76 dB); radio or TV-audio, vacuum cleaner (70 dB).70Arbitrary base of comparison. Upper 70s are annoyingly loud to some people.Conversation in restaurant, office, background music, Air conditioning unit at 100 ft60Half as loud as 70 dB. Fairly quietQuiet suburb, conversation at home. Large electrical transformers at 100 ft50One-fourth as loud as 70 dB.Library, bird calls (44 dB); lowest limit of urban ambient sound40One-eighth as loud as 70 dB.Quiet rural area30One-sixteenth as loud as 70 dB. Very QuietWhisper, rustling leaves20 Breathing
10
Barely audible
just thought this might intersest some of you
lol what do you mean read it,its self explanitory
or just go to this link
http://www.industrialnoisecontrol.com/comparative-noise-examples.htm
or just go to this link
http://www.industrialnoisecontrol.com/comparative-noise-examples.htm
Nelly said:
That table in one form or another has been referred to recently in a couple of other threads. Another way of looking at it is that it shows a fifteen-fold doubling in loudness. 10dB just seems to high to match a subjective doubling to my mind. I can't think of anything that follows log base 10 - it's a mathematical construct for managing large ratios & a very useful one at that but does not occur in nature unless someone can correct me?
These sorts of tables get my goat. Bad science. dB is just a ratio. Nothing is "10dB loud".
For measuring sound pressure level in dB you need a reference level to compare your sound level with. This is usually 20 mico pascals rms, which is generally considered the limit of human hearing.
To make matters less clear, this is a measure of sound pressure, not loudness. The ear sensitivity changes for different frequencies, so the above measurements do not reflect how loud a sound is, just its sound pressure level. There are weightings that can be applied to spl measurements to approximate human ear response - dBa(spl) and dBc(spl) would be two common techniques.
Finally, distance is all important, so any real measure of loundness ought to be "XX dBa(spl) at X metres" .
Anything else is just noise.
For measuring sound pressure level in dB you need a reference level to compare your sound level with. This is usually 20 mico pascals rms, which is generally considered the limit of human hearing.
To make matters less clear, this is a measure of sound pressure, not loudness. The ear sensitivity changes for different frequencies, so the above measurements do not reflect how loud a sound is, just its sound pressure level. There are weightings that can be applied to spl measurements to approximate human ear response - dBa(spl) and dBc(spl) would be two common techniques.
Finally, distance is all important, so any real measure of loundness ought to be "XX dBa(spl) at X metres" .
Anything else is just noise.
An absurd table from an apparantly valid source. Other references are far more uswful to those who really want to know
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