Question

You recently purchased a home four blocks from the busy tollway. On a typical evening, the decibel level resulting from tollway traffic is 62 dB at the location of your house. Determine the decibel level on the same evening at a house 1 block from the tollway (four times closer).

Answer 1

Answer:

74dB

Explanation:

Sound intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. Thus, a house four times closer hears a sound 16x more intense.

The dB scale is logarithmic, so 16x louder than 62 dB is equal to

62 + 10*log(16) ~= 62 + 12 = 74dB