Question

"The definition of dB is odd." Explain why this may seem so? Explain some other measures that are 'powers of 10' in science.

Answer 1

In physics. It is very common define a unit depending on the magnitude that appears most frequently in daily life. The decibel is - one tenth of one bel - because these scales are the most common when working.

Examples are the kg. the unit is the gram. However, in daily life. the most common is the kg scale. for that reason. we defined units like Newton based on kg instead of gram.

The decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit that expresses the ratio of two values of a physical quantity, often power or intensity. One of these quantities is often a reference value and in this case the decibel expresses the absolute level of the physical quantity. The number of decibels is ten times the logarithm to base 10 of the ratio of two power quantities, or of the ratio of the squares of two fieldamplitude quantities. One decibel is one tenth of one bel, named in honor of Alexander Graham Bell; however, the bel is seldom used.