The decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to measure sound level.

It is also widely used in

electronics, signals and communication. The dB is a logarithmic way of describing a ratio. The
ratio may be power, sound pressure, voltage or intensity or several other things. Later on we
relate dB to the phon and to the sone, which measures loudness. But first, to get a taste for
logarithmic expressions, let's look at some numbers. (If you have forgotten, go to What is a
logarithm?)

For instance, suppose we have two loudspeakers, the first playing a sound with power P1, and
another playing a louder version of the same sound with power P2, but everything else (how far
away, frequency) kept the same.

Using the decibel unit, the difference in sound level, between the two is defined to be

10 log (P2/P1) dB where the log is to base 10.

If the second produces twice as much power than the first, the difference in dB is

10 log (P2/P1) = 10 log 2 = 3 dB (to a good approximation).

This is shown on the graph, which plots 10 log (P2/P1) against P2/P1. To continue the example, if
the second had 10 times the power of the first, the difference in dB would be

10 log (P2/P1) = 10 log 10 = 10 dB.

If the second had a million times the power of the first, the difference in dB would be

10 log (P2/P1) = 10 log 1,000,000 = 60 dB.

This example shows a feature of decibel scales that is useful in discussing sound: they can
describe very big ratios using numbers of modest size. But note that the decibel describes a ratio:
so far we have not said what power either of the speakers radiates, only the ratio of powers. (Note
also the factor 10 in the definition, which puts the 'deci' in decibel: level difference in bels (named for Alexander
Graham Bell) is just log (P2/P1).)

Sound pressure, sound level and dB. Sound is usually measured with microphones and they
respond proportionally to the sound pressure, p. Now the power in a sound wave, all else equal,
goes as the square of the pressure. (Similarly, electrical power in a resistor goes as the square of
the voltage.) The log of x2 is just 2 log x, so this introduces a factor of 2 when we convert
pressure ratios to decibels. The difference in sound pressure level between two sounds with p1
and p2 is therefore:

20 log (p2/p1) dB = 10 log (p22/p12) dB = 10 log (P2/P1) dB (throughout, the log is to base
10).

What happens when you halve the sound power? The log of 2 is 0.3010, so the log of 1/2 is 0.3,
to a good approximation. So, if you halve the power, you reduce the power and the sound level
by 3 dB. Halve it again (down to 1/4 of the original power) and you reduce the level by another 3
dB. If you keep on halving the power, you have these ratios.

What is sound pressure level?

Sound Pressure Level. Sound level is usually defined in terms of something called Sound
Pressure Level (SPL). SPL is actually a ratio of the absolute, Sound Pressure and a reference
level (usually the Threshold of Hearing, or the lowest intensity sound that can be heard by most
people).

What is Mel

The mel scale is a scale of pitches judged by listeners to be equal in distance one from another. The
reference point between this scale and normal frequency measurement is defined by equating a 1000
Hz tone, 40 dB above the listener's threshold, with a pitch of 1000 mels. ... Sound Example: Downward
chromatic mel scale.

What is Acoustic Energy?

Acoustic energy can be defined as the disturbance of energy which passes through matter in the
form of a wave. In other words, it is the energy concerning the mechanical vibrations from its
components is called Acoustic Energy. Any acoustic event has the following stages.

Cause Generating Mechanism Acoustic wave propagation Reception Effect

The process in which some other form of energy is converted into sonic energy producing a
sound wave is called transduction process. Sound waves carry energy throughout the propagating
medium. The acoustic wave equation is the fundamental equation that describes sound wave
propagation. Wave propagation is the key process in any of the acoustic event. Sound propagates
in liquids as a pressure wave and in solids as longitudinal or transverse waves.
Difference between sound power and sound level

Sound Power, Sound Pressure

The difference between sound power and sound pressure levels is similar to that between the
power of a heater and the temperature that it produces. If you stand close to a heater in a large
room you will be able to feel heat from it; if you are at the far end of the room you will probably
not feel anything. The temperature that the heater produces depends upon how far you are from it
and the characteristics of where it is located. The heater will produce a higher temperature in
a well insulated room than in a draughty, uninsulated one.

Sound power level is the acoustic energy emitted by a source which produces a sound pressure
level at some distance. While the sound power level of a source is fixed, the sound pressure level
depends upon the distance from the source and the acoustic characteristics of the area in which it
is located.

A sound source will produce a higher sound pressure level in a small reflective (reverberant)
room than in a large acoustically dead (absorptive) room or an open space. The units in which
the power of a heater is measured may be Watts while the temperature may be measured in
degrees(e.g. Centigrade). Similarly, the energy emitted by a sound source is in Watts and the
sound pressure this produces can be measured in Pascals.

For acoustic purposes, sound power and sound pressure levels are quantified in decibels which
are a logarithmic ratio. In the case of a sound power level the reference value is 1012 Watts
whereas the reference value for sound pressure level is 2.10-5 pascals. This means that although
the sound power and sound pressure levels equate to Watts and Pascals, respectively, they are
both measured in decibels (relative to the appropriate reference unit). This tends to cause
considerable confusion because a sound source producing a sound power level of 100dB, for
example, will produce a sound pressure level that varies, as noted above, with distance and other
factors such that it may be 90 dB relatively close to the source and 80 dB at a somewhat greater
distance.

It is best to quantify a source in terms of the sound power level emitted because this does not
change, whereas the resultant sound pressure level will depend upon how and where it is
measured, which means that quantifying a source by the sound pressure level produced may
leave considerable uncertainty in the actual sound energy of the source. Sound is measured in
decibels (dB [capital B]) where 0dB is around the threshold of hearing for somebody with good
hearing and every 10dBA increase equates to an approximate doubling of loudness. This means
that a level of 40dB sounds about twice as loud as 30dB whereas as 50dB sounds approximately
four times as loud.
Characteristics of Sound and the Decibel Scale

Refer the below link

https://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/noise_education/web/ENG_EPD_HTML/m1/intro_5.html