What is Noise?
Noise is any distracting sound that you do not need or want to hear. These unwanted sounds that tend to cause varying degrees of discomfort or irritation. Our ears do a very good job in picking up these sounds.
Noise is a constant part of our lives. It can range from the person next to you that is constantly popping their chewing gum to the backfire of a car engine. Noise is measured in units known as decibels (dB).
There are four different types of noise and it is important to understand the differences between them.
1. Continuous Noise
This type of noise is the background noise we hear every day. It can be your AC/heating system that is constantly running or the traffic on the street below from your apartment window.
2. Intermittent Noise
This is noise that increases and decreases rather quickly within a short period of time. An example is a motorcycle riding down your street at a high speed. The noise of the motorcycle’s engine increases when it approaches, but then fades away after it passes you by.
3. Impulsive Noise
This type of noise is very sudden and jarring. It’s the type of noise that can frighten someone especially if they were not expecting it to happen. Explosions, gun shots are a couple of popular examples.
4. Low-Frequency Noise
Low-frequency noise is similar to continuous noise in that these are sounds that we hear every day. These can be either the hum of your refrigerator or the sound of a truck in the distance. Low-frequency noise is constantly all around us.
We hope you have found this information to be helpful. If there is a particular topic that you would like for us to address in a future issue, please let us know.