In the material's examples, the nighttime decibel level near a remote location is approximately ___ dB.

In the material's examples, the nighttime decibel level near a remote location is approximately ___ dB.

• A. 106
• B. 10
• C. 40
• D. 20

Answer: (B)

Ambient sound levels depend on location and time, and decibels are a logarithmic measure of sound energy. In a truly remote area at night, human-made noise drops away and what you hear are only very faint natural sounds. The material’s example uses a figure around 10 dB to illustrate this extremely quiet nighttime environment. Because the scale is logarithmic, even small changes in sound energy can feel like a big difference in loudness, so a remote night can be described as near the threshold of hearing in practical terms. The other values are much louder than what a remote nighttime setting typically produces—for example, 106 dB would be extremely loud (think jet or siren), while 40 dB or 20 dB are noticeably louder than a near-silent night but still not as quiet as the example describes.

Ambient sound levels depend on location and time, and decibels are a logarithmic measure of sound energy. In a truly remote area at night, human-made noise drops away and what you hear are only very faint natural sounds. The material’s example uses a figure around 10 dB to illustrate this extremely quiet nighttime environment. Because the scale is logarithmic, even small changes in sound energy can feel like a big difference in loudness, so a remote night can be described as near the threshold of hearing in practical terms. The other values are much louder than what a remote nighttime setting typically produces—for example, 106 dB would be extremely loud (think jet or siren), while 40 dB or 20 dB are noticeably louder than a near-silent night but still not as quiet as the example describes.