Hearing: Frequency and Volume

UPDATED

Test your hearing range by listening to low-, medium-, and high-frequency sounds. Compare the relative loudness of sounds at each frequency to create an equal-loudness curve. In a quiet room, measure your threshold of audibility for each frequency, and compare your results to others. The volume of each sound can be adjusted.

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Assessment Questions (5):

  1. In the image from the Gizmo™ shown below, which frequency has the highest decibel level?

    Equal-loudness curve from Hearing Gizmo
  2. Imagine that you created the equal-loudness curve shown below. If you then played each sound at the decibel level shown, which frequency of sound would sound the loudest to you?

    Equal-loudness curve
  3. Experiments have shown that adult human hearing is most sensitive in the frequency range of the sound of a human baby crying. Based on the threshold of audibility curve shown for an adult male shown below, into which frequency range does most babies' crying fall?

    Threshold of audibility equal-loudness curve
  4. If the equal loudness curve below shows the threshold of audibility for a person while in middle school, which curve is most likely to represent the threshold of audibility for the same person at his or her 60th birthday?

    Threshold of audibility equal-loudness curve for person in middle-school

    Four possible threshold of audibility equal-loudness for the same person when older
  5. What device would an elderly person most likely have trouble hearing? (Assume each sound has the same decibel level.)

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