Decibel

Decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit for measuring the proportional ratio of a physical quantity, such as sound intensity, power, voltage, or the intensity of an electromagnetic radio wave. It is used to express large differences in the values of these physical quantities.

The definition of decibel is based on the logarithm of the tenth of the ratio of two quantities. A proportional ratio is obtained by dividing one quantity by another. In the case of sound, the logarithm of the proportional ratio of the sound intensity to the reference intensity is used, which is considered as the reference point, usually the lowest sound perception of the human ear.

Decibel is a dimensionless unit because it is defined as the logarithm of the ratio of two equal physical quantities. In the case of sound, a decade scale is often used, where one decimal increase in decibel corresponds to a doubling of sound intensity.

Decibel is used in various fields such as acoustics, telecommunications, electronics, audio engineering, radio communication and many others. It is useful for measuring and expressing large ranges of values and for comparing different audio, signal or power levels.