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Modern Physics - Energy of sound waves absorbed by eardrum

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A 54 dB sound wave strikes an eardrum whose area is 4.0 x 10-5 m^2.

(a) How much energy (in watts) is absorbed by the eardrum per second?

(b) At this rate, how long (in years) would it take your eardrum to receive a total energy of 1.0 J?

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A complete, step-by-step solution on how to find the amount of energy absorbed by the eardrum per second.

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(a) The value D of the sound intensity level I is given in decibels by

D = 10 * log (base 10) [I/I_0],

where I_0 = (10^-12) W/(m^2), which is ...

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