What is Decibel?
Decibel is the widely used standard in measuring the relative loudness of a sound. It expresses the ratio between two physical quantities such as acoustic power. Decibel is in logarithmic scale, which means that the decibel increases or decreases exponentially — a 10 dB increase means 10 times louder, and a 10 dB decrease means 10 times quieter.
Decibel Meter
A device that can measure sound level is called a Decibel Meter. It uses sound pressure to assess and evaluate noise levels across different ranges of frequencies. It is commonly a hand-held instrument with a microphone that acts as the sensor to detect sound levels.
The Decibel Scale
How loud is too loud?
A decibel is a relative comparison of two quantities. But how do we relate decibel to real-life experience? The following is the equivalent sound comparison of the decibel scale:
- 0 dB
- Total Silence
- 10 dB
- Faint Sound
- 20 dB
- Rustling Leaves
- 30 dB
- Soft Whisper
- 40 dB
- Average Home Noise / Modern Appliances such as Refrigerator
- 50 dB
- Conversation
- 60 dB
- Busy Street
- 70 dB
- Noisy Restaurant
- 80 dB
- City Traffic
- 90 dB
- Lawn Mower and Music Headphones
- 100 dB
- Concert
- 110 dB
- Industrial Noise
- 120 dB
- Siren
- 130 dB
- Jet Engine
- 140 dB
- Fireworks
- 150 dB
- Intolerable — Possible Eardrum Damage