How does loudness work? I looked up what a decibel was on Wikipedia and my eyes melted. How does measuring the loudness of something work? What actually happens when we experience a sound as really loud or really quiet?
In: Physics
Sound is waves of air pressure. The air pressure goes up and down. Up-down-back up = 1 wave.
But how high a pressure is “up”? How low of a pressure is “down”? This difference between the height of the crest and the bottom of the trough is called the wave’s *amplitude* and that’s what determines loudness.
Air pressure going up and down a little = low amplitude = quiet sound.
Air pressure going very high to very low in each cycle = high amplitude = loud sound
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