Acoustic drainage

Definitions of acoustic terminology

• Building Acoustics - Science of controlling noise in buildings. This includes the minimisation of noise transmission from one space to another and the control of the characteristics of sound within spaces themselves.
• Noise - A sound, especially one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disturbance.
• Sound - Any pressure variation that travels through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person's or animal's ear.
• Sound pressure - This is what we hear.. it is the difference between the pressure caused by the sound wave and the ambient pressure of the medium the sound wave is passing through.
• Sound Pressure Level (SPL) - Used with the unit DeciBel, it describes the logarithmic ratio of the effective sound pressure to the reference sound pressure of 0.00002 Pascals.
• Decibels - Unit based on a logarithmic scale used for the ratio of measured effective sound pressure or sound intensity to a reference value in acoustics, electronics and communications.
• Vibration - is an oscillation of a fluid or solid whose equilibrium has been disturbed
• Frequency - is the number of times a vibration occurs or repeats itself every second
• Reverberation Time - Is the time it takes for the sound pressure level to fall by 60dB after the sound source has been turned off.
• Loudness - the subjective perception of sound pressure and can be ordered on a scale from quiet to loud
• Structure-borne noise - Sound that reaches the point of interest predominately via a solid structure
• Airborne noise - Sound that reaches the point of interest through air