Passage
Students measured how loud a sound was using a sound meter that reads loudness in sound units (su). A single speaker played a steady tone during all of the trials.
Study 1: With the speaker's volume dial fixed at setting 3, the students measured the loudness at different distances from the speaker (Table 1).
| Distance from speaker (m) | Loudness (su) |
|---|
| 1 | 80 |
| 2 | 68 |
| 4 | 56 |
| 8 | 44 |
| 16 | 32 |
Study 2: Holding the meter at a fixed distance of 2 m from the speaker, the students changed the volume dial and measured the loudness at each setting (Table 2).
| Volume setting | Loudness (su) |
|---|
| 1 | 44 |
| 2 | 56 |
| 3 | 68 |
| 4 | 80 |
| 5 | 92 |
The same speaker, tone, and sound meter were used in every trial.
