Science
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Fast Facts for Science Teachers and Students : The Decibel Scale |
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| One property of sound is its loudness. How can you measure loudness? The answer: a decibel. A decibel is a unit of measure. The decibel scale works logarithmically. This means that when a sound increases by 10 decibels, it is 10 times louder. | |
| Decibel (dB) | Loudness of Sound |
| 0 | near silence; threshold of hearing |
| 10 | leaves rustling |
| 20 | whisper |
| 30 | quiet home |
| 40 | quiet conversation |
| 50 | normal conversation (50-60 dB) |
| 60 | normal conversation |
| 70 | hair dryer; vacuum cleaner |
| 80 | city traffic |
| 90 | thunder; lawn mower |
| 100 | chain saw; large orchestra |
| 110 | car horn |
| 120 | rock concert |
| 130 | threshold of pain |
| 140 | jet taking off |
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