Decibel sound scale how to#

A normal conversation produces around 4 sones of sound.An average refrigerator produces 1 sone of sound.Some example sounds, and their sone rating, are shown below: It uses a linear scale, which means that 4 sones sounds four times louder than 1 sone. The sone scale is another noise or sound rating scale that is primarily used by ventilation fan manufacturers to rate the sound levels of their products.Ī sone is a measurement designed to represent the perceived loudness of a sound. The B scale is rarely used, the C scale is used for very high noise levels and the D scale is mainly used to measure aircraft engine noise. There are three other scales used: B, C and D. The letter after the rating indicates the scale that is being used, with the A scale using a curve that attempts to mimic the way that the human ear hears sound. Some decibel ratings will also have a letter after them, such as dB(A) or db(C). We have also created an infographic that illustrates how the decibel scale works, and shows the decibel ratings for several common sounds:

Some common sounds, and their decibel ratings, include: The decibel scale measures noise logarithmically, which is similar to how our ears perceive sound, so a sound 10 times more powerful than 0 dB is 10 dB, a sound 100 times more powerful than 0 dB is 20 dB, a sound 1,000 times more powerful than 0 dB is 30 dB, and so on. The decibel (dB) is a unit used to measure the intensity of a sound.

Decibel sound scale how to#

In this article, we will look at how to measure noise levels, and the units used to measure it.

For this reason, it is essential that employers take steps to measure the noise levels in a workplace and take any preventative measures required to reduce a person's exposure to noise. The problems caused by exposure to noise are permanent and usually develop gradually, which can make them difficult to identify early. It can also contribute to other health conditions such as psychological problems, trauma, depression, irritation, high blood pressure and cardiac arrest. Frequent exposure to noise can have serious long-term effects on a person's hearing, with the HSE estimating that 14,000 workers suffered from work-related hearing problems, such as deafness or tinnitus, between 2018//21. Noise describes any unwanted sound that we hear.