Converting decibels to PSI

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Converting decibels to PSI

Postby Justin » Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:01 pm

How can I convert decibels to pressure units, such as PSI, or vice versa? I've seen formulas such as dB = 10*log (P/Pref) or 20*log(V/Vref). Is this correct? How do I know what the reference P is? Thanks for your help!
Justin
 

Re: Converting decibels to PSI

Postby Guest » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:56 pm

Justin wrote:How can I convert decibels to pressure units, such as PSI, or vice versa? I've seen formulas such as dB = 10*log (P/Pref) or 20*log(V/Vref). Is this correct? How do I know what the reference P is? Thanks for your help!


If P is power, the 10*log form is correct. However if P is pressure, db = 20*log(P/Pref) and Pref is 20 uPa (micropascals, I can't make a "mu" here). The assumption is that P is an rms pressure value, any static (dc) pressure is ignored. A 10 dB increase is always 10X in power or energy, but power is proportional to power, or to the square of voltage or pressure. That is where the factors of 10 or 20 come from.

Note that 20 Pa is 120 dB, painfully loud, while static atmospheric pressure is 101.325 kPa.

http://www.eie.fceia.unr.edu.ar/~acusti ... undlev.htm

For electrical signals, you have to find a reference to what the reference level is, but 1 mW of power (frequently into 600 ohms), or 1 V are common ones.
Guest
 

Postby Justin » Tue Jul 11, 2006 2:14 am

Thanks, Guest! That's exactly what I was trying to figure out. Very much appreciated.
Justin
 

Pa to dB

Postby Student » Wed Dec 10, 2008 3:48 am

i am doing a science fair project and am wondering how to convert sound pressure(Pa) into decibels(dB). can anyone give a answer please
Student
 

Re: Converting decibels to PSI

Postby Guest » Wed May 16, 2012 12:44 am

Use this equation:

dB = 20*log( a/b )

where

a = the measured sound level in Pascals
b = 2*10^-5

to test; use a = 2 Pascals and you should get 100 dB
Guest
 

Re: Converting decibels to PSI

Postby Teacher » Sat Nov 17, 2012 5:01 am

Guest wrote:
Justin wrote:How can I convert decibels to pressure units, such as PSI, or vice versa? I've seen formulas such as dB = 10*log (P/Pref) or 20*log(V/Vref). Is this correct? How do I know what the reference P is? Thanks for your help!


If P is power, the 10*log form is correct. However if P is pressure, db = 20*log(P/Pref) and Pref is 20 uPa (micropascals, I can't make a "mu" here). The assumption is that P is an rms pressure value, any static (dc) pressure is ignored. A 10 dB increase is always 10X in power or energy, but power is proportional to power, or to the square of voltage or pressure. That is where the factors of 10 or 20 come from.

Note that 20 Pa is 120 dB, painfully loud, while static atmospheric pressure is 101.325 kPa.

<url snipped>

For electrical signals, you have to find a reference to what the reference level is, but 1 mW of power (frequently into 600 ohms), or 1 V are common ones.


-----
Nice response, however, the original question asked how to convert dB to PSI. That can be done as follows:

Knowns:
20 Pascals = 120 dB (as define above)
1 psi = 6894.757 Pascals

Therefore:
120 dB / 20 Pa = 6 dB / Pascal
6 dB / Pa * 6894.757 Pa /1 psi = 6 * 6894.757 * (dB / 1 Psi) = 41,368.542 dB / 1 psi
Note: This ratio should allow you to see that it takes a lot of dBs (sound pressure) to equal 1 psi (i.e. pressure evenly distributed over 1 square inch). That works out to be about 1 dB per 124.881645 square microns.

So, if dB is known & you want to convert to psi, then it can easily be computed as follows:
"120 dB = how many psi?"

120 dB * ( 1 psi / 41,368.542 dB = 120 / 41,368.542 = approximately 0.0029 psi
Teacher
 

Re: Converting decibels to PSI

Postby Student » Fri Apr 12, 2013 9:56 am

The conversion supplied by "teacher" above is only good for exactly 120db because of the logarithmic scale... The calcs using the logarythmic equation must be performed in si units and then converted afterward.
Student
 


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