Go back
A physics question from a conversation I had

A physics question from a conversation I had

Posers and Puzzles

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by kenan
Oh, I am sorry I should have guessed you meant decibels.

Decibels are used to determine the intensity of the sound.

To be more specific, decibel is logarithmic unit; "10 times the logarithm of the ratio of the sound intensity to some reference intensity."

So, it is not related to speed of light at all to answer your question, they are merely a unit, just like meters.
so you can use them to measure speed of sound? Im asking this because you said they are a unit of measure for loudness and intensity. the closer the origin of the sound the higher its intensity, so it seems like if you knew the distances and the decibels you could determine the speed at which it is traveling and the article was giving these units of measure

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by kenan
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/dB.html explains everything if you are not familiar with decibels and logarithmic functions.

A Logarithmic function is the inverse of the exponential function. A logarithmic function rises up quickly and then the increase slows down and goes to infinity very very very slowly.

For example an exponential function rises slowl ...[text shortened]... t the rear shocks after a big first shock are less dangerous and damaging.

Hope this helps.
As I said above, decibels are used only to measure the speed of sound.

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by kenan
As I said above, decibels are used only to measure the speed of sound.
What i am trying to say is that the article you posted, about sound and Blackholes gave octives and frequency, but did not mention speed, and the original question is what is the speed of sound in the most dense place in the universe, a blackhole

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by joe shmo
What i am trying to say is that the article you posted, about sound and Blackholes gave octives and frequency, but did not mention speed, and the original question is what is the speed of sound in the most dense place in the universe, a blackhole
so scientists havent worked or are not able to work out a conclusive speed for this particular event

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by joe shmo
so you can use them to measure speed of sound? Im asking this because you said they are a unit of measure for loudness and intensity. the closer the origin of the sound the higher its intensity, so it seems like if you knew the distances and the decibels you could determine the speed at which it is traveling and the article was giving these units of measure
BTW, I also edited my post.

Yes, my friend.

The speed of sound changes though. It depends of the medium.

Let me give you a simple example.

Say you put your ear to a railroad (made of iron, so solid) you can hear the sound of the train coming from 1 kms away but when you cannot hear the train from just standing there becauuse it is harder for the sound to transmit from air.

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by kenan
BTW, I also edited my post.

Yes, my friend.

The speed of sound changes though. It depends of the medium.

Let me give you a simple example.

Say you put your ear to a railroad (made of iron, so solid) you can hear the sound of the train coming from 1 kms away but when you cannot hear the train from just standing there becauuse it is harder for the sound to transmit from air.
but the speed of sound is supposed to be faster in the denser medium, so why is your speed of sound in water slower than in the atmosphere

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by joe shmo
What i am trying to say is that the article you posted, about sound and Blackholes gave octives and frequency, but did not mention speed, and the original question is what is the speed of sound in the most dense place in the universe, a blackhole
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave

In theory, yes. I am not sure though, never been to a blackhole.

Vote Up
Vote Down

some of your post disapeared,

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by joe shmo
but the speed of sound is supposed to be faster in the denser medium, so why is your speed of sound in water slower than in the atmosphere
My friend, what are you talking about? I am sayin that it INDEED is faster though iron railroad compared to air.

For more info see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_sound

Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by joe shmo
some of your post disapeared,
you had written somthing like the speed of sound in water is 340.29 m/s and in air depending on conditions 344 m/s

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by joe shmo
some of your post disapeared,
I apoligise, I accidentally messed up with numbers incorrectly. It actually was other way around. 😀 That's why it disappeared. See my post above.

Vote Up
Vote Down

and now its gone, please tell me im not hallucinatng

Vote Up
Vote Down

okay...... whwew

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

1 edit
Vote Up
Vote Down

Originally posted by joe shmo
okay...... whwew
In air the speed of sound is 340 meters/second.

The speed of sound does not change depeding on the frquency.

The speed of sound is depends inversly on the squareroot of temperature; higher the temperatur faster the speed.

Cookies help us deliver our Services. By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn More.