Answer to Question #13206 in Acoustics for Quinn Gibson

Question

A friend claims that, "The sound level of a drill is 90 dB and it doesn't bother me. A rocket launch has a sound level of 180 dB and is considered very dangerous. How can this be, when it is only twice as loud?" Discuss the validity of your friend's statement.

Answer 1

The matter is that with an increase of the sound pressure level by 10 dB sound volume will increase by 2 times. So, sound pressure change by 180db - 90 db = 90 db corresponds in 2*90/10 = 18 times volume increase.