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3.

Level and the Decibel


3.1 Level and Decibel
The range of the quantities used in acoustics, such as acoustic pressure, intensity, power, and
energy density, is quite large. As a consequence of this wide range of magnitudes, there was an
interest in developing a scale that could represent these quantities in a more convenient manner.
In addition, it was found that “the response of the human ear to sound was more dependent on
the ratio of intensity of two different sounds, instead of the difference in intensity”. For these
reasons, a logarithmic scale called the level scale was defined.
The level of any quantity is defined as the logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio of an energy-like
quantity to a standard reference value of the quantity.
Quantity measured
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 dB = 10 log10 (3.1.1)
Reference level
Although the level is actually a dimensionless quantity, it is given the unit of bel, in honour of
Alexander Graham Bell. It is general practice to use the decibel (dB), where 1 decibel is equal to
0.1 bel. The level is usually designated by the symbol L, with a subscript to denote the quantity
described by the level. For example, the acoustic power level (SWL) is designated by LW. The
acoustic power level is defined by:
𝐿𝐿W = 10 log10 𝑊𝑊 ⁄𝑊𝑊ref (3.1.2)
The factor 10 converts from bels to decibels and 𝑊𝑊ref = 10−12 watts.
Note:
The sound power or acoustic power is the sound energy constantly transferred per second from
the sound source. A sound source has a given constant sound power that does not change if it is
placed in a different room environment.
Sound power is a theoretical value that is not measurable. It is calculated and expressed in watts
and as sound power level LW in decibels.
A sound source produces sound power and this generates a sound pressure fluctuation in the air.
Sound power is the distance independent cause of this, whereas sound pressure is the distance-
dependent effect. Sound power or sound power level has nothing to do with the distance from
the sound source.
The sound intensity level (SIL) and sound energy density level (SDL) are defined in a similar
manner to acoustic power level, since both of these quantities (I and D) are proportional to
energy:
𝐿𝐿I = 10 log10 𝐼𝐼 ⁄𝐼𝐼ref (3.1.3)
𝐿𝐿D = 10 log10 𝐷𝐷 ⁄𝐷𝐷ref (3.1.4)
Where the reference quantities are:
𝐼𝐼ref = 10−12 W⁄m2
𝐷𝐷ref = 10−12 W⁄m3
We note that the acoustic pressure is not proportional to the energy, but instead, p2 is
proportional to the energy (intensity or energy density). For this reason, the sound pressure level
(SPL) is defined by:
2
𝐿𝐿p = 10 log10 𝑝𝑝2 ⁄𝑝𝑝ref = 20 log10 𝑝𝑝⁄𝑝𝑝ref (3.1.5)
The reference quantities were not completely arbitrarily selected. At a frequency of 1000 Hz, a
person with normal hearing can barely hear a sound having an acoustic pressure of 20 μPa (0
dB). For this reason, the reference acoustic pressure was selected as:
𝑝𝑝ref = 20 µPa = 20 × 10−6 Pa
The characteristic impedance for air at ambient temperature and pressure is 𝑍𝑍o ≈ 400 rayl. The
acoustic intensity corresponding to a sound pressure of 20 μPa moving through ambient air is
approximately 𝐼𝐼ref = 20 × 10−6 2 ⁄ 400 = 10−12 W⁄m2 .
The acoustic power corresponding to the reference intensity and a ‘‘unit’’ area of 1 m2 is 𝑊𝑊ref =
10−12 1 = 10−12 W.
The reference acoustic energy 𝐷𝐷ref = 1 pJ⁄m3 was somewhat arbitrarily selected, because
the acoustic energy density for a plane sound wave in ambient air with the reference sound
pressure level is approximately 0.003 pJ/m3.
One feature of the use of the decibel notation is that many expressions involve addition or
subtraction, instead of multiplication or division. From this fact, we can relate the SPL (𝐿𝐿p ),
SWL (𝐿𝐿W ) and DI as follows:
Initially, the acoustic intensity was presented by;
𝑄𝑄𝑄𝑄 𝑝𝑝2 (3.1.6)
𝐼𝐼 = 2
=
4𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟 𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌
The acoustic pressure is related to the acoustic power:
2
𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌
𝑝𝑝 = (3.1.7)
4𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟 2
We may introduce the reference pressure and reference power to get:
𝑝𝑝2 𝑊𝑊𝑊𝑊𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌𝑊𝑊ref
2 =
(3.1.8)
2
𝑝𝑝ref 4𝜋𝜋𝑊𝑊ref 𝑝𝑝ref 𝑟𝑟 2
If we take the common logarithm of both sides of Eqn. (3.1.8) and multiply both sides by 10, we
obtain:
𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌𝑊𝑊ref
𝐿𝐿p = 𝐿𝐿W + DI − 20 log10 𝑟𝑟 + 10 log10 2
(3.1.9)
4𝜋𝜋𝑝𝑝ref
The quantity DI is the directivity index, defined by:
DI = 10 log10 𝑄𝑄 (3.1.10)
where Q is the directivity factor. If we express the distance r in meters and take the properties of
air at 25 oC, we may determine the numerical value for the last term in Eqn. (3.1.9):
4𝜋𝜋 20 × 10−6 2
10 log10 −12
= 10 log10 12.266 = 10.9 dB
409.8 10
For sound transmitted from a directional source (or spherical source) in air at 25 oC, the sound
pressure level and the sound power level are related by:
𝐿𝐿p = 𝐿𝐿W + DI − 20 log10 𝑟𝑟 − 10.9 dB (3.1.11)

For the practically occurring solid angle, we get the following relationships between the sound
power and sound pressure level:
For Q = 1 is LW = Lp + [20 × log10 (r)] + 11 dB (full)
For Q = 2 is LW = Lp + [20 × log10 (r)] + 8 dB (half)
For Q = 4 is LW = Lp + [20 × log10 (r)] + 5 dB (quarter)
For Q = 8 is LW = Lp + [20 × log10 (r)] + 2 dB (eighth)
Example 3.1
Show proof that the SPL and SWL can be related by the following expression:
𝑄𝑄
𝐿𝐿p = 𝐿𝐿W − 10 log
4𝜋𝜋𝑟𝑟 2
Example 3.2
A given sound has the following properties:
• acoustic pressure, p = 0.20 Pa
• acoustic particle velocity, u = 0.488 mm/s
• acoustic intensity, I = 97.6 μW/m2
• acoustic energy density, D = 0.282 μJ/m3
a) Determine the corresponding sound pressure, velocity, intensity and energy density level.
b) Compare and make comment on the values of the intensity level and the sound pressure
level.
3.2 Combination of Sound Levels
There are many situations in which we need to determine the sound level produced by several
sources of sound acting at the same time. Because all levels are defined in terms of energy-like
quantities, all ‘‘levels’’ (sound pressure level, intensity level, power level, etc.) will combine in
the same manner.
The total intensity, for example, is the sum of the intensities for the individual sources, if the
sources produce sound waves that are not exactly in-phase or out-of-phase.
Example: Suppose we have two sources of sound that produce the following intensity levels
when operating alone:
𝐿𝐿I1 = 80 dB = 10 log10 𝐼𝐼1 ⁄𝐼𝐼ref
𝐿𝐿I2 = 85 dB = 10 log10 𝐼𝐼2 ⁄𝐼𝐼ref
We may solve for the individual intensities to obtain the following values:
𝐼𝐼1 = 10−12 10 80⁄10 = 10−4 W⁄m2
𝐼𝐼2 = 10−12 10 85⁄10 = 3.16 × 10−4 W⁄m2
Total intensity when the 2 sources are operating at the same time is the sum of the intensities:
𝐼𝐼 = 𝐼𝐼1 + 𝐼𝐼2 = 4.16 × 10−4 W⁄m2 (3.2.1)
The combined intensity level is:
𝐿𝐿I = 10 log10 4.16 × 10−3 ⁄10−12 = 86.2 dB
The general expression for determining the combination of any set of ‘‘level’’ quantities is:

𝐿𝐿 = 10 log10 � 10𝐿𝐿𝑖𝑖⁄10 (3.2.2)


𝑖𝑖
This expression is valid for all types of levels—including sound pressure levels—because the
total pressure is not the sum of the individual pressures if the waves are not correlated. The
square of the pressure is proportional to energy (the intensity, for example), so the individual
sound pressures must be combined in an ‘‘energy-like’’ manner.
𝑝𝑝total 2 = 𝑝𝑝12 + 𝑝𝑝22 + 𝑝𝑝32 + ⋯ (3.2.3)
The reference quantity is the same for each intensity level, so the previous calculation could be
carried out using the intensity ratio. For the values used in the previous example, we have:
𝐼𝐼1
�𝐼𝐼 = 10 80⁄10 = 108
ref
𝐼𝐼2
�𝐼𝐼 = 10 85⁄10 = 108.5
ref
The total intensity ratio is the sum of the individual ratios:
𝐼𝐼 ⁄𝐼𝐼ref = 𝐼𝐼1 ⁄𝐼𝐼ref + 𝐼𝐼2 ⁄𝐼𝐼ref = 108 + 3.16 × 108 = 4.16 × 108
The total intensity level is:
𝐼𝐼1 + 𝐼𝐼2
𝐿𝐿I = 10 log10 = 10 log10 4.16 × 108 = 86.2 dB
𝐼𝐼ref
For example: The formula for the sum level of sound pressures of n incoherent radiating sources
would be; (3.2.4)
2 2 2
𝑝𝑝1 + 𝑝𝑝2 + ⋯ + 𝑝𝑝𝑛𝑛
𝑝𝑝𝛴𝛴 = 10 · log10 2
𝑝𝑝ref

Example 3.3
Determine the combined sound pressure level (SPL) for four sources with pressure levels of 48
dB, 90 dB, 97 dB and 87 dB respectively.

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