![]() (For the purposes of the above and below equations, always take the larger number as the ending dB value and the smaller number as the starting dB value.) X-fold increase in sound intensity = 10 (ending dB value – starting dB value)/10 The formula for calculating the increase in sound intensity between two decibel values is: This means there is a logarithmic relationship between such values, not a linear relationship. The reason you can’t just simply interpolate between two decibel values is because we are not working with linear numbers, but with logarithmic numbers. Even hearing health care professionals that should know don’t always get this right. Thus, since there is a 10-fold increase between 10 dB and 20 dB in sound intensity, they assume the increase at the half-way point (15 dB in this case) is a 5-fold increase. Unfortunately, far too often people assume that there is a simple linear interpolation between any two decibel values. Now that we have a little background, we are ready to proceed with the details of how to calculate the differences in sound intensities and relate them to decibel values. Rather, we perceive it as about 4,000 times louder. Since our ears perceive sound logarithmically, we do not perceive a sound of 120 dB as being 1 trillion times louder than a sound of 0 dB. For example, if you had a 120 dB loss at a certain frequency, in order to hear a sound at that frequency, it would have to be 1 trillion times as intense (it would require 1 trillion times the energy to produce it) as needed for a person who had “perfect” hearing (and thus could hear it at an intensity of 0 dB). 8 (2 x 2 x 2) etc.Īs you can see, these numbers quickly get large. Value Increase in Sound Intensity Perceived Increase in Volumeġ0 dB 10 times the sound intensity 2 times as loudģ0 dB 1,000 (10 x 10 x 10) etc. The table below shows the increase in sound intensity between 0 dB and each of the values listed. Don’t confuse sound intensity (the amount of energy needed to produce a given level of sound) with sound volume (the level at which we perceive the resulting sound.) Note: Sound intensity is the energy (power) needed to produce a given level of sound. Thus, from 0 dB to 10 dB there is a 10-fold increase in sound intensity, just as there is from 10 dB to 20 dB or from 34 dB to 44 dB. Each 10 dB increase results in a 10-fold increase in sound intensity which we perceive as a 2-fold increase in sound volume. There is a mathematical relationship between decibels (dB) and sound intensities. For example, how do you calculate the increase in sound intensity between 0 dB and 15 dB or between 52 and 94 dB? ![]() ![]() How do you calculate the difference in sound intensity in decibels between any two sound intensities. ![]()
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