ACOUSTIC

SYSTEM
ACOUSTIC

(from the Greek ακoυστικo s)

the science of sound, of small amplitude
mechanical vibrations.

In buildings we are concerned with airborne sound

or structureborne sound, that are transmitted by
the building fabric.

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AIR-BORNE SOUND
Sound traveling in waves from a vibrating
source through the elastic medium of air.

STRUCTURE-BORNE SOUND
Sound traveling in waves from a vibrating
source through an elastic medium of a
building’s structure or the ground

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Acoustic System
Asimple acoustic system consists of
source, conveying medium and receiver.

SOURCE is a vibrating body, which converts some other

form of energy into vibration (e.g. a loudspeaker) or
vice versa (e.g. a microphone)

CONVEYING MEDIUM may be a gas (e.g. air), which

transmits the vibration in the form of longitudinal waves
(alternating compressions and rarifications),

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SOUND
a form of energy

sound is the sensation caused by a vibrating

medium as it acts on the human ear.

the term is also applied to the vibration itself that

causes this sensation

is made when air molecules vibrate and move in a

pattern called WAVE or SOUND WAVE
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SOUND characterized by

WAVELENGTH (λ in m)
FREQUENCY (f in Hz)
VELOCITY (v in m/s)

The latter depends on the transmitting medium.

In air it is usually taken as 340m/s

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WAVELENGTH

Wavelength is distance between one compression

and the next compression when the wave is
created

Wavelength = Velocity / Frequency

the faster the sound wave,

the shorter the wavelength,
the higher the frequency
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FREQUENCY
Sound waves vibrate at different rates or frequencies

Frequency is measured in cycle per second or

Hertz
after the German Scientist who experimented with
sound in the 19th century

the faster the object vibrates,

the higher the frequency,
the higher the pitch
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Sound Frequency of
Human Hearing
and Speech

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FREQUENCY
16 – 16,000 Hz
the capability of healthy young person to hear
sounds

Standard Octaves (in Hz)

63 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000

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VELOCITY
Sound travels at velocity that depends on
elasticity and density of the medium.

1,130 feet per second (fps) - sound velocity

(in air at normal temperature and atmospheric
pressure)

186,000 miles per second – light velocity

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INTENSITY
the loudness of sound.

Loudness
a relative scale of the perceived volume of sound.

Sounds at the same decibel level but different

frequencies do not always sound equally loud.

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INTENSITY LEVEL
measured in dB (decibels)
(from “bel” unit in honor of Alexander Graham
Bell)

the threshold of sound is 0 dB

120 dB or greater sounds can caused ear damage

the bigger the vibration,

the greater the amplitude of the waves,
the louder the sound ACOUSTIC
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DECIBEL (dB)
the measurement of sound intensity level.

based on a logarithmic scale with differences in

perception based on a subjective scale.

decibel levels of two noise sources happening at one

time cannot be added directly, but there is a scale
used to indicate the result of adding two sounds
together

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Decibel Scale (in adding two sounds)

- difference between two sounds is between 0 and 1dB,

add 3dB to the higher decibel level.

- difference is between 2 and 3 you add 2dB to the higher

level.

- difference is between 4 and 9 you add 1dB.

- above 10dB difference adds nothing to the higher level.

Examples:
50 + 30dB = 50dB of perceived sound
50 + 50dB = 53dB of perceived sound ACOUSTIC
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Decibel Level Changes and
Perception in Sound

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Common Sounds in Decibels (dB)

140 dB near jet engine

130 dB threshold of pain
120 dB hard rock band
100 dB auto horn
80 dB school cafeteria
60 dB range of speech
40 dB soft radio music
20 dB average whisper
10 dB human breathing/ rustle of leaves
0 dB threshold of audibility
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SOUNDWAVES

AMPLITUDE
Maximum displacement of a particle to either side of its
normal position during vibration
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SOUNDWAVES

the bigger the vibration,

the greater the

amplitude of the
waves,

the louder the sound

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SOUNDWAVES

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LOGARITHMS
express as a digit from 1 to 9 multiplied by 10 to a power
Ex. 4,820,000.0 = 4.82 x 10 6 or 5 x 10 6

Two parts :

CHARACTERISTICS
the power of 10, to which is added the decimal

MANTISSA
a decimal, found in the log table

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LOGARITHMS

10 5 = 100,000
10 4 = 10,000
10 3 = 1,000
10 2 = 100
10 1 = 10
10 0 = 1
10 -1 = 0.1
10 -2 = 0.01
10 -3 = 0.001 ACOUSTIC
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Electrical System
LOGARITHMS
number digit 10 n
4,820,000.0 = 4.82 x 10 6 or 5 x 10 6

0.0000258
8,400,000,000.0
0.0298
1803
0.85
1,723,000
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LOGARITHMS (Useful LOG Table)
Number Mantissa
1 0
2 0.3
3 0.48
4 0.6
5 0.7
6 0.78
7 0.85
8 0.9
9 0.95
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LOGARITHMS
Example:

log (4,820,000.0) = log (5 x 106) = 6.7

log (0.0000258) = log (3 x 10-5)

= - log (1/3 x 105)
= - log (0.33 x 105)
= - log (3 x 104) = -4.48

ACOUSTIC
COMPUTATION
Electrical System