Architectural Acoustics

Building Utilities 3 Acoustics and Lighting

Systems (Topic 2)
 The wavelength of a sound may be defined as the
distance between similar points on successive waves or
the distance the sound travels in one cycle of vibration
and is denoted by the Greek letter lambda .

Wavelength
 The relationship between wavelength, frequency, and
velocity of a sound is expressed as:
= c/f or f = c
Where: = wavelength, in feet or meters
c = velocity of sound, in fps or m/sec.
f = frequency of sound (Hz)
Note: Low-frequency sounds are characterized by long
wavelengths and high-frequency sounds by short wavelengths.
Sounds with wavelengths ranging from 1.25 cm to 15.25mt can
be heard by humans.

Wavelength
 When we speak of sound magnitude, we think of
loudness which is subjective.
Sound Magnitude is not linearly related to the physical
quantity of sound. Therefore, in order to understand the
concept, sound pressure, sound intensity, and intensity
level must be explained individually.

Sound Magnitude
 The most basic type of vibration in which it has a single
frequency is called simple harmonic motion. It is the
form of vibration which characterizes a pure tone

A. Sound Pressure
 The curvature produced by a
pure tone is called a sine wave.
The total pressure in a sound
field may be determined using
the formula:
Pa sin (2ft+)
where:
Pa = max. pressure amplitude
f = frequency of vibration
t = time
= phase angle when t = 0

A. Sound Pressure
 Therefore, the term sound pressure is generally used
to designate the effective value of the sound pressure.

A. Sound Pressure
 The sound intensity in a specified direction at a point in
a sound field is defined as the rate of flow of sound
energy through a unit area at that point, the unit area
being perpendicular to the specified direction. Sound
intensity is usually expressed in watts per square
centimeter.

B. Sound Intensity
 SOURCE Peak Power in
Bell Telephone Watts
Laboratories Speech (female) 0.002

determined the sound (male) 0.004

Clarinet 0.05
power output (in
Bass Viol 0.16
watts) of conversation Piano 0.27
speech and of several Trumpet 0.31
musical instruments, Trombone 6.00
it is as follows: Bass Drum 25.00
75 piece 10 to 70
orchestra

B. Sound Intensity
 The sound intensity at any distance from the source is
expressed as, I = P/A
where: I = the sound intensity in w/cm2 or w/m2
P = acoustic power in watts
A = area in cm2 or m2

B. Sound Intensity
 Intensity level is the ratio between a given intensity and a
base intensity. It is expressed as,
IL = 10 log I/Io
where IL = intensity level in decibels
I = intensity in watts per square cm.
Io = base, that is, 10-16 w/cm2 (threshold
constant hearing)

C. Intensity Level
For Example:
1. Two sound sources produce intensity levels of 50db and
60db, respectively, at a point. When functioning
simultaneously, what is the total sound intensity level?

(Refer to the issued solution in the white board.)

C. Intensity Level