It is difficult to attenuate low frequency noise because it can easily diffract (large

wavelength).
Sound energy density (E), which is related to the sum of the sound pressure and
particle velocity, quantifies how much energy is stored in an acoustic wave, sound
intensity quantifies how much sound energy is transported and specific acoustic
impedance quantifies the possibility for sound energy to be transported.
Suppose that in a certain set up sound is travelling towards a full reflecting (rigid)
surface and the acoustic impedance is determined close to that surface. The
acoustic impedance will be high because close to the surface the particle velocity is
almost zero and the sound pressure is enlarged due to the reflection. All the sound
is reflected, an therefore close to the surface the intensity is zero: the same amount
of sound that goes in one direction goes also in the opposite direction so there is no
net flow of acoustic energy. The sound energy will not be affected much by the
surface because compared to a free propagating sound wave, the sound pressure
increases and the particle velocity decreases.
Note that the impedance is not dependent of the loudness of the sound field; it is
determined by the environment. Both sound intensity and sound energy is
dependent of the loudness of the sound field.
Reverberation chamber:
Usually a (diffuse) sound field is generated with a uniform energy density. This is
achieved with loudspeakers that are placed in the corners of such chambers and a
number of diffusers to prevent the presence of standing waves in the chamber. A
relatively large sample of the sound absorbing material (several m2 ) is placed in
the chamber and for a given frequency band the reverberation time T60 is
measured.
Various standards state that at least 20 modes of vibration in the chamber are
required in the lowest frequency band.
It has been shown that if the total energy (that is the pressure plus the velocity
vector) is measured, the accuracy of the measurements increases