The Impact of Sound Intensity on Firecracker Sound Levels

If two firecrackers produce a sound level of 98 dB when fired simultaneously at a certain place, what will be the sound level if only one is exploded?

What is the relationship between sound intensity and sound level in the context of firecracker explosions?

Answer:

If two firecrackers produce a sound level of 98 dB when fired simultaneously at a certain place, the sound level if only one is exploded will be 95 dB.

Sound intensity plays a crucial role in determining the sound level produced by firecrackers. To understand how the sound level changes when the number of firecrackers is altered, we need to delve into the concept of sound intensity and its relationship to decibels.

Sound intensity is defined as the amount of sound energy passing through a unit area perpendicular to the direction of sound propagation per unit time. In the case of firecrackers, when two are exploded simultaneously, the sound intensity is doubled compared to when only one is detonated.

The decibel (dB) scale used to measure sound levels is logarithmic, which means that doubling the sound intensity corresponds to an increase of approximately 3 dB. Therefore, when two firecrackers produce a sound level of 98 dB when fired together, the sound level if only one is exploded would be approximately 95 dB.

This relationship between sound intensity and sound level highlights the importance of understanding the principles of acoustics and how they manifest in real-world scenarios like firecracker detonations.