The power, or INTENSITY, of a sound is a function of its amplitude
of the vibration and the complexity of its waveform. Sounds with the
same amplitude will not necessarily produce the same intensity (compare
a sine wave and a square wave). This power can be measured in watts,
but this is not particularly convenient for most people who work with
sound because human ears are sensitive to a tremendous range of sound
intensity. The range of intensity is managed more effectively by the
use of a logarithmically based unit called the DECIBEL (named
in honor of Alexander Graham Bell and abbreviated dB). The
decibel (which is also used by engineers as a unit for comparing electrical
signal levels) provides a means of relating different levels of sound
intensity (see the table below).
