Noise Pollution -- February, 2003




Teacher Hints:

  1. The correspondence between decibel levels and perceived loudness is fairly simple. A difference of 3 dB in noise level is barely noticeable, yet it represents a doubling of the acoustic energy involved. For a noise to sound twice (or half) as loud, a difference of about 10 dB is required. For example, a lawn mower measured at 80 dB will sound about twice as loud as a hair dryer at 70 dB.

  2. If conducting experiments near automobile traffic, reinforce safety guidelines to your students.

  3. If experiments are conducted near areas of loud noise (i.e. jackhammer at a school construction site), use proper ear protection.