Question: What is a decibel, and what is the loudest sound I can listen to before it hurts my ears?
Answer: The decibel (abbreviated dB) is the unit used to measure the intensity of a sound. The decibel scale is a little odd because the human ear is incredibly sensitive. Your ears can hear everything from your fingertip brushing lightly over your skin to a loud jet engine. In terms of power, the sound of the jet engine is about 1,000,000,000,000 times more powerful than the smallest audible sound. That's a big difference!
On the decibel scale, the smallest audible sound (near total silence) is 0 dB. A sound 10 times more powerful is 10 dB. A sound 100 times more powerful than near total silence is 20 dB. A sound 1,000 times more powerful than near total silence is 30 dB. Here are some common sounds and their decibel ratings:
Near total silence - 0 dB
A whisper - 15 dB
Normal conversation - 60 dB
A lawnmower - 90 dB
A car horn - 110 dB
A rock concert or a jet engine - 120 dB
A gunshot or firecracker - 140 dB
You know from your own experience that distance affects the intensity of sound -- if you are far away, the power is greatly diminished. All of the ratings above are taken while standing near the sound.
Any sound above 85 dB can cause hearing loss, and the loss is related both to the power of the sound as well as the length of exposure. You know that you are listening to an 85-dB sound if you have to raise your voice to be heard by somebody else. Eight hours of 90-dB sound can cause damage to your ears; any exposure to 140-dB sound causes immediate damage (and causes actual pain).
Source: HowStuffWorks.com
- DarkAbyssXx
9:21 PM
It's been a long time since I updated the blog. Well actually I did, but only for the Great Jokes and Facts Of Life section. I hadn't really written a post these few days, so here's it. Over the past weekend, I went to watch a concert performance called "Jazz Up With Brubeck" at the SCO. (Singapore something something... can't remember) It was held at the place where the SYF Central Judging for Bands in Primary Schools were held. This was no ordinary performance! Three musicians from America worked together to perform with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra team of musicians. Can you imagine that? Jazz, Blues mixed together with sweet classical chinese music! Both parties had to co-operate well with each other to really bring out the essence of the pieces.
The part of the concert which was really interesting was when a song called "Un-Square Dance" was played. The song was played in 7/4 time. Normally, songs have only have 4 beats in one bar. But the conductor of the Chinese Orchestra invented a way to conduct hassle-freely. It was really interesting when he explained to the audience how it was dance.
The concert was astounding. The musicians were great. There were instruments like the Koto, Harp, Pipa, Dizi, Bass Trombone, Drumset, Xylophone, just to name a few. But what amazed me the most was when one of the 3 American Musicians played the Harmonica. Previously, I thought the harmonica was just a normal instrument. Now, in the hands (or mouth, haha!) of an expert, it had transformed into a wonderful instrument.
Well, that's all for the concert. Now, I want to talk about a new update in the Sidebar of the blog. There will be a place saying "Blog Update Status". It will tell you approximately how often I will update the blog during the present time. There are a few modes, so here we go:
Inactive --- Currently very busy, which means that I will update only about once in 2 weeks.
Idle --- Quite busy, but I will still update around every 4 to 6 days.
Active --- Normal Status, the blog will be updated every 1 to 2 days or so.
That's all folks!
- DarkAbyssXx
3:40 PM
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