I don’t really get how sound works. For example, if two people shout at 80 decibels each, is it louder than one person shouting at 80 decibels?
In: Physics
Doubling the amount of sound energy results in an approximate increase of 3dB
So 2 people at 80dB each would produce about an 83dB sound
You hear because of shockwaves moving through the air that tickle your eardrum. The harder your eardrum is tickled, the louder something sounds. The more people there are shouting, the more air that’s getting moved around.
It is louder but not twice as loud. Theres a lot of factors involved like how close they are together, what direction etc. When two waves interfere with each other, the amplitudes (corresponding to loudness) of each wave are combined at each point of interference. There can be constructive ( loudening ) and destructive (quietening) interference, depending on which parts of the wave is interacting with which parts of the other. Two identical waves completely out of phase pointed at each other will be silent, completely in phase twice as loud. Look up diagrams for this, they’re very helpful understanding waves in general
For sure, think about being in a stadium with thousands of other people. It gets LOUD in there with just voices.
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