Soundproofing

[seekers]

Hey everybody,

I saw this advertisement about soundproof foam and it just struck my funny bone.  And then I started to think about soundproofing for N soundwaves and it seemed even funnier.  Are we absorbers or barriers?  Which is more effective?  Am I losing it?    

Read on or click here for the same explanation plus the cheesy visuals. http://www.fomofoam.com/Soundproofing.htm

Sound is a form of energy. The more energy produced in one place, the greater effect that energy will have in another if it is allowed to get there.

Example:- Throw a stone = Energy expelled

Get hit by a stone = Energy received !!

The harder the stone is thrown, the more it hurts !

 There are three ways of stopping the stone hurting.

1:- Wear something very dense,  the stone will bounce off. You may feel the dent where it hit, but its effect will be reduced.  

2:- Wear something very thick and soft, the power of the stone will be absorbed by the softness. You may still feel the stone, but the force will be greatly reduced.

3:- Get to the joker with the stone.

The same principles can be applied to sound. Unfortunately its a little more complicated because differing frequencies ( Bass, etc) of sound, produce different energies (frequencies) and need to be dealt with in slightly different ways...If the stone above was very sharp, small and pointed, it may well pierce the protection, whereas a larger, flatter stone would not.

The two sound control options come with many variations, basically they can be divided into the areas below.

Passive Absorption:
When sound passes through an acoustically absorptive material like mineral wool insulation or acoustic foam, the sound waves are forced to change directions many times and travel great distances before the sound passes completely through the absorptive material.  Each time a sound waves changes direction, a portion of the energy is absorbed by conversion to heat. When there is a reflective surface behind the absorber, (such as a wall) the sound which passes through the absorber will be reflected back and through the absorber once again. Absorbers work best when there is some sort of a reflective surface behind them. For some sounds (low frequency) an air gap is ideal between the absorber and the reflective surface or wall.

Barriers:
A noise barrier can be constructed from almost any non porous material.  Since sound is energy, an effective barrier must have enough mass (weight and density) and a low resonant frequency to stop (or reflect) this energy.  As sound pressure levels increase so does the sound power (energy). High sound power levels will excite any surface they encounter causing the surface to vibrate at its resonant frequency which inevitably makes the walls shake.  Low frequency sound contains more energy, because a larger volume of air is being displaced to produce the long wavelengths associated with bass and sub-bass frequencies.  These low frequency sounds easily excite most common building materials like wood and 3/4" thick drywall.

High sound power levels will excite any surface they encounter causing the surface to vibrate at its resonant frequency which inevitably makes the walls shake.  Kinda like visiting an N in the hospital...

Enjoy, Seeker

[Dawning]

seekers,

Analogies and metaphors are helpful for me too.
No, I don't think you are losing it.  Thanks for posting this.

Just a quick question, though.   What does this mean?

3:- Get to the joker with the stone.

 

[BlueTopaz]

Hehe...  That is really great Seeker  

Metaphors are one of my favorite ways to look at life.  I often form them from the most abstract things, too, and sometimes get the most profound messages out of the most unlikely things! LOL!

I was an absorber for sure with my x N dating partner of 4+ years, but now I'd like to think I'd really reflect like the barrier, and make those darn walls shake like no tomorrow, if anyone tried any of that N stuff now hehe...

I enjoyed that    

BT

[Anonymous]

Hi Dawning and BT,

Yes, I'm an absorber too.  "Get to the joker with the stone" is just saying, I think, gee after getting hit with so many stones try to take care of the source of the stones.  In this case, the source of the loud noises ie turn the stereo down, lock up the barking dog, or get the N to be quiet.

Anyway, I'm going to imagine myself wrapped in acoustic foam the next time I have to deal with the nasty people in my life.  Hopefully some of it will bounce off.

BTW, for some reason I had to add an S to seeker because when I tried to send this, it said "this name already taken" or something.  

Another story: one hot evening everyone in our apartment complex had their windows open and heavy metal rock blasting on their stereos.  My H and I are rather quiet and after a long work week, that's what we wanted.  H says OK, that's it!  Opens our window, turns on our stereo to the opera station.  "Awwhaaeaeaearrrrrrrrriiaaah"  Slam!  Slam!  Slam!  All the windows shut and bye bye Metallica!  Silence is golden.

  Seeker

[BlueTopaz]

BTW, for some reason I had to add an S to seeker because when I tried to send this, it said "this name already taken" or something.  

Seeker:

I was actually wondering if it was "you" for a moment, until I saw the end signature.

The same thing happened to me, and I figured out that it is because I had also registered the name "bluetopaz".  If I hadn't registered it, I could use it when writing as "guest".  

In other words, a  guest can't enter a name in the name field, that is already taken by a registered user.  If you are also registered "officially" as "seeker" then you/anyone can't use it as "guest" in the name field.

BT

[Blue Topaz]

If this posts then that theory is incorrect.

[guests]

HA HA you are wrong!!  
hey, no hard feelings though...just kidding around here.  

Guest

[Blue Topaz]

Testing something myself here!  

[Blue Topaz]

Sorry guest, but what I said holds.  I really do think this is the case with the system.  Anyone can try to post as "guest" with their own username that is registered and see for themselves if curious.

My username is BlueTopaz, no spaces.  Try that, and you will not be able to post.   You were able to, because you placed a space between the two words.

BlueTopaz

[BlueTopaz]

If this posts then that theory is incorrect.

HA HA you are wrong!!
hey, no hard feelings though...just kidding around here.  

Guest
 

Just to be clear for anyone wondering, the two messages quoted above were posted by the same "unknown guest".  The first one in the quote bears the name "BlueTopaz" on the original message, but is not me. It is  the guest, "testing" the theory by trying to post with my username.

What follows is self explanatory.

I just realized it might look a bit weird to some, and didn't  want to be accused of talking to myself lol  

BT

[flower]

Thanks BlueTopaz for straightening this post thing out for us. It was getting confusing there for a bit.

Hi Seeker,

I thought you had a new nickname "seekers" ...Thought it was kind of cute.

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Thanks so much for your insight and support.
 It aided my healing. Too much of my heart
was in this post to let it remain here for posterity on the web.
The post served its purpose and now it is time to
edit it or gently take it down.
 
To every thing there is a season, and a time
to every purpose under the heaven:  Ecclesiates 3:1

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Thanks for the metaphor. I like the symbolic thing.