The sound level intensity table
Table shows examples of sound sources with various intensity level given in decibels.

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Sound intensity level (dB)#

Sound intensity level [dB]Example sound sources
10rustling of leaves with a gentle wind
normal breathing
20whisper
ticking watch
30a very quiet street with no traffic
40noises at home
refrigerator hum
light rain
50noise in offices
the WHO (World Health Organization) recommended daytime noise level in the working environment
60vacuum cleaner
normal conversation
air conditioner
70interior of a noisy restaurant
tearing paper
toilet flushing
car interior
80loud music indoors, honking
90road traffic
hair dryer
100motorcycle without a silencer
110chainsaw
shouting or barking in the ear
120the maximum allowable level of firework sound intensity
130helicopter rotor at a distance of 5 meters, the limit above which permanent hearing impairment may occur
140fighter take-off
150rifle shot
160bomb explosion
190space rocket launch
220atomic bomb explosion

Some facts#

  • Sound intensity level is defined as:
    L=10 log10(II0)L = 10~log_{10}\left(\frac{I}{I_0}\right)
    where:
    • L - sound intensity level,
    • I - sound intensity,
    • I0I_0 - reference sound intensity, amounting to 101210^{-12} W/m2, experimentally determined the lowest intensity felt by people.
  • The unit for the sound intensity level is decibel.
  • The sound pressure level is based on the logarithmic scale. This is due to the psychoacoustic properties, i.e. the way people perceive changes in loudness.
  • Sound with level of intensity zero decibels (0 dB) corresponds to reference intensity I0I_0. The reference level was selected arbitrarily to reflect the hearing limit of people.
  • A higher value of the intensity level means that the intensity is greater than the reference intensity, i.e. the subjectively perceived loudness level is higher.
  • The experimentally tested pain threshold is approximately 120 dB for acoustic noise and approximately 140 dB for sinusoidal sound. One of the highest levels (about 300dB) was noticed in today's Russia in 1908 in the so-called the Tanguska disaster.
  • The device that measures the sound level is decibelmeter.

See also#

If you're interested in calculators related to acoustics, check out our other calculators:
  • Sound intensity level (dB) - if you want to learn what is decibel and how the sound intensity level is measured,
  • Sound velocity in materials - if you want to learn how the type of substance affects the speed of acoustic wave propagation,
  • Acoustic impedance of substances - if you want to learn what is acoustic impedance and how it depends on the type of substance,
  • Sound wave reflection - if you want to find out how an acoustic wave behaves when it encounters an obstacle in the form of media boundary,
  • Mass law: single wall - if you're interested in building acoustics and would like to estimate the acoustic insulation of a single wall,
  • Mass law: double wall - if you're interested in building acoustics and would like to estimate the acoustic insulation of a double wall with an air gap between the walls,
  • Sound absorption coefficients - if you're interested in acoustic adaptation of room and you would like to learn how different materials absorb the acoustic wave,
  • Noise propagation - if you want to learn how sound intensity level changes with distance from the source,
  • Sound insulation countours - if you want to learn more about acoustic insulation assessment standards used over the world,
  • Sound reduction index (SRI) - if you're searching for acoustic insulation of popular building materials expressed in the coefficient Rw,
  • Sound transmission class (STC) - if you're searching for acoustic insulation of popular building materials expressed by the index STC.

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