sound kills...who knew?

[uethanian]

so i was reading a section on noise pollution in my environmental science textbook, and it had a neat little graph of the decibel scale. whisper, rainfall, footsteps, appliances, motors, temporary hearing loss, permanent hearing loss...DEATH! apparently you die at 180 decibels. and not before having your skin burnt off at 150. are there any science guys here who can explain this? not to be morbid, but...exactly what is the cause of death at 180 decibels?

[Marcus Willett]

Check out this chart

http://www.makeitlouder.com/Decibel%20Level%20Chart.txt

[Oreomeister365]

So you can blow up the planet with enough amps.

Tom Bowlus, care to try?

[uethanian]

i'm a bit confused...decibels are measures of sound wave pressure, right? so is the damage from the pressure, or is it from the movement of air/matter because of the pressure?

[tombowlus]

Originally Posted by Oreomeister365

So you can blow up the planet with enough amps.

Tom Bowlus, care to try?

Sorry, but I have orders from Homeland Security not to try.

[Techmonkey]

Originally Posted by uethanian

i'm a bit confused...decibels are measures of sound wave pressure, right? so is the damage from the pressure, or is it from the movement of air/matter because of the pressure?

same diff, it's all displacement of particles.

sound waves are just a way of transferring energy, as indeed all waves are. a great amplitude = more energy being transferred.

and more energy being transferred is rarely a good thing

[varunkapahi]

i knew!

[Croox]

150 (N)ROCK CONCERT “THE WHO” TWO 10 STORY STACKS = 144 DOUBLE REFRIDGERATOR SIZED SPEAKERS, ACTUAL LEVEL REACHED 120 DB AT A DISTANCE OF 32 METERS FOR THIS NORMALIZED READING OF 150 DB.CONTINOUS LEVEL 114-118db (P) AT 32 METERS -REF.1.1982
150 ROCK CONCERT SPEAKER AT 1600 WATTS ON THE ACTUAL VIBRATING SURFACE -REF.1.1991

damn its going to be tough but I'd love to hit that much

[tplyons]

Too much of anything will kill.

Even sex. Just goes to show that there IS too much of a good thing.

[iamlowsound]

I also knew.

lowsound

[theshadow2001]

Originally Posted by tplyons

Even sex. Just goes to show that there IS too much of a good thing.

Maybe so. But what a way to go!

[Cryhavok]

If Spinal Tap goes to 11 in the middle of the forest, and no one's around to hear it, does it still shatter our skulls?

[SuperDuck]

Originally Posted by uethanian

i'm a bit confused...decibels are measures of sound wave pressure, right? so is the damage from the pressure, or is it from the movement of air/matter because of the pressure?

If you want to get really technical, a decibel is a unit used to express a ratio between a measured quantity and a reference qauntity. It doesn't necessarily _have_ to apply to sound.

When we write that the concert last night was "118 dB at the back of the room", we should really be saying "118 dB-SPL re:20 µPa", with 20 µPa being the reference value as the threshold of hearing. In that case, the decibel is indeed being used to describe pressure, and we know what it's being compared to.

[bluestarbass]

I find it hard to believe I have a mic that will be ok at 162dB but my skin burn at 150. My skin has to be able to take more sound pressure than a super thin metal diaphram.