Sound Intensity Calculator

Sound Intensity Calculator

Sound intensity level calculator finds the value of sound in decibels. This information helps to know how intense a sound is. You can find any of the three values by entering the remaining two.

What is Sound Intensity?

Sound intensity is the energy or power by which sound waves travel across a medium. It varies with objects. For example, a closing door will produce less sound as compared to an elephant trumpeting.

What is the Sound intensity level?

The sound intensity level is a ratio between any sound and the faintest sound that is possible for humans to hear. It is written as;

IL (β) = 10 log10 (I/I0)

Here

• I represent the sound intensity
• I₀ represents the reference intensity.

It is measured in decibels. Sound intensity is represented by the beta symbol β.

Humans can hear sounds between a range. This range is 10-12Wm2 to 1Wm2. The sound of frequency 10^-12Wm² is called zero bel and it is also the reference intensity.

How to find sound intensity levels?

Since the formula involves a logarithm, it can be tricky. So the best and suggested way is to use the intensity level calculator.

But for your convenience, the manual method is explained through an example below.

Example: 

If the intensity of a sound is 124 Wm^-2 then find its intensity level.

Solution:

Step 1: Identify the values.

Sound intensity = 124 Wm²

Reference intensity = 10^-12 Wm²

Step 2: Put the values in the formula:

β = 10 log10 (I/I0)

β = 10 log10 (124/10^-12)

β = 140.932 db

Sound Intensity Table