Mondo Knows Facts
Loudness is measured on a logarithmic scale
A whisper is around 30 decibels and an orchestra can reach 100 Each 10 decibels represents ten times the sound energy, which is why small numbers hide big differences. Sustained exposure above about 85 decibels risks hearing damage. Musicians wear ear protection in pits and rehearsals for that reason. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: loudness, decibels, health
Loudness is measured on a logarithmic scale: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- A whisper is around 30 decibels and an orchestra can reach 100. The figure is taken from Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a music fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.