Question

What is the intensity of sound in normal conversation?
A. 10-20 dB
B. 40-60 dB
C. 90-120 dB
D. 120-150 dB

Answer 1

Ear is the sense organ in our body that helps for auditory perception. Know that it also helps with body balancing. The human ear cannot perceive sounds that are not within the normal limits of intensity.

Complete answer: There are mainly three sections in the human ear. They are the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. The outer ear contains a pinna which is like a trumpet that helps to collect sound waves from the surroundings. Sound waves absorbed then pass through the external auditory meatus and vibrate the eardrum which is also called the tympanum. The middle ear consists of three small bones called malleus, incus, and stapes. These bony ossicles then transmit vibrations to the cochlea present in the inner ear and it helps for auditory perception by creating waves in the fluid inside the inner ear. The unit of intensity of sound waves is said in decibels. In a normal conversation, sound intensity is between 40 and 60 decibels. Hearing a very high-intensity sound creates an irritating feeling to our ears. These sounds are called noise. High intensity sounds like traffic sounds have over 80 decibels of intensity. Also, air horns of vehicles have high intensity and are not good for our ears. All sounds that are above 80 decibels can damage our ear permanently. So it is necessary to have protective devices while hearing these sounds.
Hence, the correct answer is Option B

Note: The human ear can perceive a maximum of 120 dB of intensity, although it damages our ear. It can also pick up intensities that are close to 0 dB. Know that a soft whisper has an intensity of around 30 dB.