Book 14, Question 33
Why Do 10 More Decibels Sound About Twice as Loud?
Ten more decibels sound about twice as loud because our ears work on a special scale! Each 10 decibels means about ten times more sound energy. But our ears only judge it as roughly twice as loud.
More fun facts
- Decibels use a special scale called a logarithmic scale.
- An increase of 10 dB makes a sound seem about twice as loud to our ears.
- At the same time, 10 dB more means ten times more sound energy.
- So a 40 dB sound seems twice as loud as a 30 dB sound.
- And it seems four times as loud as a 20 dB sound.
Sources: National Park Service, Scientific American
Questions kids ask
How much louder is 50 dB than 30 dB?
It seems about four times as loud.