TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

FACULTY OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT

DIPLOMA IN TECHNOLOGY (PROPERTY MANAGEMENT)
ACADEMIC YEAR 2017/2018

ATPM2203 PRINCIPLES OF ACCOUNTING

FINANCIAL REPORT
OF
ASSIGNMENT TITLE

Lecturer : Madam Tan Kwong Ngee

Date Submitted: 16 November 2017

Name of Student Reg No. Assignment Presentation

Sam Chiew Keng Seng

1. 17WVD00194 /100 /100
Pang Kien Bing
2. 17WVD00511 /100 /100
Kong Chin Chuan
3. 17WVD11377 /100 /100
Kwong Xiao Wei
4. 17WVD04449 /100 /100
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Table of contents
Theory 3

Learning Outcomes 3

Equipment Error! Bookmark not defined.

Precautions 5

Procedures 6

Data & Results 7

Conclusion 8

Equipment: Error! Bookmark not defined.

Introduction & Background 9

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Theory
All sound is caused by vibrating air (air-borne sound) or objects (impact / structureborne
sound). If there is no adjacent material, the sound would not transmit. Sound does not
transmit in vacuum because there is no material to carry it. The intensity of sound is
measured in decibels (dB). The value of intensity decreases as the distance from the source
increases. This is because as the distance increases, the sound would spread out more.

The intensity of the sound would decreases as the square of the distance, that is,
1

^2

Learning Outcomes
1. To determine the intensity of sound along the demonstrator when the mexasuring
instrument (sound level meter) is moved away from the speaker.
2. To determine the intensity of sound when it passed through different materials such as
plywood, cement board and gypsum board.

Equipment

Figure 1: Building Demonstrator Figure 2 : Sound Panel (Speaker)

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 Figure 4 : Ear Protection

Figure 3 : Sound Level Meter

Figure 5 : Plywood Figure 6 : Cement Board

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 Figure 7 : Gypsum Board

Precautions

1. Students performing the experiments should be supervised by the lecturers in charge.

2. The sound from the speaker is in high pitch. While performing this experiment, it is
better to wear ear protection. Stop the experiment immediately when the ears feel
painful.
3. Switch off the power from the power point and the main supply when the Building
Demonstrator is not in use.
4. Pull off the plug from the power supply after turning it off, to prevent voltage surge
during thunderstorms.

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Procedures
Experiment A:
1. The demonstrator was set up by plugging into a 240 V AC single-phase 50 Hz supply.
2. Four nuts were unscrewed at the end of the demonstrator and the sound panel was
inserted and tightened.
3. The speaker wire was connected to a switch that is located above the power point at
the side of the control panel.
4. The speaker was turned on and the switch the selector was switched to high.
Frequency and volume was turned to the maximum position.
5. The sound intensity reading was taken and recorded from the distance 70 cm away
from the source. The experiment was repeated and result were recorded for different
distances (140 cm, 210 cm) away from the speaker. For the sake of accuracy, the
reading was taken three times on every distances.

Experiment B:
1. The procedures for Experiment A from (1) to (4) was repeated.
2. A piece of plywood was put onto the demonstrator at a distance 70cm away from the
sound source.
3. The sound intensity readings were taken and recorded immediately before and after
the sound travels through the plywood.
4. The experiment was continued by placing the rack at different distances (140 cm, 210
cm) away from the sound source and then measured again.
5. The experiment was repeated by using cement board and gypsum board.

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Data & Results
Experiment A:
Distance Intensity of Sound, I (dB)
d (cm)
1st 2nd 3rd Average

1. 70 104.3 102.5 107.2 104.67

2. 140 96.7 96.1 100.2 97.67

3. 210 93.2 96.1 93.7 94.33

Experiment B: PLYWOOD BOARD

Distance Intensity of Sound, I (dB)

d (cm) Transmission Sound Reduction
coefficient Index
Reading before I1 Reading after I2
T = I2 / I1 R = 10log10(1/T)
(dB) (dB)

1. 70 106.5 85.5 0.8028 0.9539

2. 140 97.6 82.6 0.8463 0.7247

3. 210 99.5 93.6 0.9407 0.2655

Experiment B: CEMENT BOARD

Distance Intensity of Sound, I (dB)

d (cm) Transmission Sound Reduction
coefficient Index
Reading before I1 Reading after I2
T = I2 / I1 R = 10log10(1/T)
(dB) (dB)

1. 70 105.8 87.1 0.8233 0.8444

2. 140 97.3 86.8 0.8921 0.4959

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3. 210 93.2 84.5 0.9067 0.4254

Experiment B: GYPSUM BOARD

Distance Intensity of Sound, I (dB)

d (cm) Transmission Sound Reduction
coefficient Index
Reading before I1 Reading after I2
T = I2 / I1 R = 10log10(1/T)
(dB) (dB)

1. 70 101.3 98.2 0.9694 0.1350

2. 140 97.1 88.5 0.9114 0.4029

3. 210 96.1 83.7 0.8710 0.5998

Conclusion
From the result, we have found that plywood, cement and gypsum all have different readings.
As we can see, the intensity of sound of plywood board at 210 cm distance is higher than 70
and 140 cm, which is an anomaly in the experiment as in theory, The further sound is
measured from source of sound, the lower the sound intensity would be. This is because as
the distance increases, the sound would spread out more. but in this case, the results are
showing the opposite of the theory. We have discussed and concluded that the reason for this
anomaly is due to uncontrollable conditions of the lab as there were constantly many noise
produced in the lab that we were unable to control such as chatters that occurs in class, noise
of students moving around et cetera.
But once we averaged the results of all the Sound Reduction Index of all materials, We have
found that plywood is the material with the highest Sound Reduction Index.
Therefore in conclusion, in our experiment, plywood is the material that offers the best sound
insulation.

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Individual Background

Kwong Xiao Wei (17WVD04449)

Sounds are all around us all the time. There are so many of them and we call sounds by a lot
of different names like, if a sound is really loud and kind of unpleasant like when there is a
lot of traffic going by, we call it a noise. If a sound is made by an instrument like a piano or a
ukulele, we call it a note, or we call it as music if there are lots of notes together. Through
this experiment, I have learned that different types of materials such as plywood, cement
board and gypsum board will affect the results.

Sound can be diffracted. The sound should be absorbed by the walls and just not be able to
reach human ears, this can be explained by diffraction. When a wave has to travel through a
gap, it has to bend in order to fit through the gap, this bending is called diffraction.

Sound can be reflected. When sound travels through a medium, it strikes the surface of
another medium and bounces back to the original medium. This phenomenon is called the
reflection of sound, which obeys the laws of reflection. Sound waves also suffer reflection
from large obstacles. If we stand at a distance from a high wall and clap our hands, we can
hear the same clapping sound after the dying out of the original sound. This is called an echo.
An echo is when we speak in a big empty hall, we hear our own sound repeatedly as our
sound waves get reflected from the walls of the hall back to us. Therefore, an echo is defined
as the repetition of sound caused by the reflection of sound waves from a hard surface back to
the listener. Reverberation is multiple reflections of sound after the original sound is
produced. Reverberation is a reflected sound wave that reaches your ears in less than 0.1
second from the original sound wave but an echo is traveling a greater distance and taking
more than 0.1 second to return.

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Sound can be absorbed. Sound absorption involves the use of materials to absorb sound
waves and prevent them from causing distortion, such as echoes or reverberation. The more
fibrous the material, the better it will absorb. Low frequencies cannot be absorbed, but luckily
these are naturally less bothersome. Mid and high frequencies are easier to control with sound
absorption treatment. Many sound absorption products are available on the market today, like
wall hangings, wall tiles, foam, and even custom art sound panels.

Sound can be transmitted. Sounds travel through three states of matter such as solid, liquid
and gas. All sound are made the same way through vibrations. When you hit a gong, theres a
movement which causes some vibration in the molecules. Which in turn, causes the other
molecules around them to vibrate. In fact that our eyes often cant see it moving but our ears
and brain can sense vibrations. These vibrations help sound to travel into the air, making the
air particles move through the air to our ears in a sound wave. In spaces where there is just
vacuum, sound will not travel as there wont be any molecules to vibrate.

Transmission coefficient is defined as the amplitude of the transmitted voltage to the

amplitude of the incident voltage and this quantity can also be derived in terms of the load
impedance and the characters. The Sound Reduction Index(SRI) is used to measure the
level of sound insulation provided by a structure such as a wall, window, door, or ventilator.
They are related in this experiment as we can using these formulas to determine the best
sound insulation. Before calculating sound reduction index, we must get the number of
transmission coefficient.

Based on our result, the best sound insulation is plywood as its sound reduction index is the
highest among these three building materials which are plywood, cement board and gypsum
board.

The result came as a surprise to me as I always thought that cement or gypsum board will
provide a better sound insulation before carrying out this experiment. Ive researched the
reason why plywood board is the best sound insulation through online searching, plywood
board has a high degree of sound absorption. Thus, it can reduces amount of sound. There
was something weird when we getting the answer of plywood board with the distance 210cm,
the intensity of sound (reading before) was 99.5dB. Due to the longer distance, the intensity
of sound should be lesser, so the answer should be less than 97.6dB (answer for distance with
140cm). Perhaps, there was someone speaking or walking during measuring the intensity of
sound. I have learned how to determine the intensity of sound when it passed through
different materials by using sound level meter at the certain distance.

References
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/Lesson-3/Reflection,-Refraction,-and-
Diffraction
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http://www.explainthatstuff.com/sound.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_(acoustics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_reduction_index

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Pang Kien Bing (17WVD00511 )

Sound is a vibration that typically propagates as an audible wave of pressure, through a

transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. Sound wave are generated by a sound
source, sound sources creates vibration in the surrounding medium. As the source continues
to vibrate the medium, vibrations propagate away from the source at the speed of sound, thus
forming the sound waves. This experiment is to determine the intensity of sound along the
demonstrator when the measuring instrument is moved away from speaker and when it
passed through different materials such as plywood, cement board and gypsum board. Sound
is important in building demonstrations. Sound is simulated to show how sound proof a
building is or how sound affects a building.

Discussion Questions
1. Sound can either be diffracted, reflected, absorbed and transmitted. Diffraction is the
bending of waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of waves beyond
small openings. It only occurs when the wavelength is close to the size or object.
Reflection of sound waves off of surfaces can lead to two phenomena - an echo or a
reverberation. Echo is a delayed reflection. Initially a reflected sound reinforces the
direct sound, but if the reflection is delayed and is strong then this echo causes
blurring and confusion of the original sound. Reverberation is a continuation and
enhancement of a sound caused by rapid multiple reflections between the surfaces of
a room. Sound absorption is the reduction in the sound energy reflected from a
surface, it is a major factor in producing good room acoustics, especially when
controlling reverberation. Sound waves are created by a disturbance that then
propagates through a medium. Individual particles are not transmitted with the wave,
but the propagation of the wave causes particles to oscillate about an equilibrium
position.

2. Transmission coefficient describes the amplitude, intensity, or total power of a

transmitted wave relative to an incident wave. Sound reduction index is a measure of
the reduction in the intensity of sound when it crosses an interface. When sound is
incident upon the surface of a material, some of it will be reflected and will be
transmitted through the material. The fraction of incident energy transmitted is called
the transmission coefficient. The sound reduction index is in turn defined in terms of
the transmission coefficient. It equals to 10 times the common logarithm of the
reciprocal of the sound transmission coefficient of the surface.

3. From the 3 building materials (plywood, cement board and gypsum board), plywood
board offers the best sound insulation because it has the highest Sound Reduction
Index.

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Individual Conclusion

After doing this experiment, I have learned how to determine the intensity of sound along the
demonstrator when the measuring instrument is moved away from the speaker and when
sound passes through different materials such as plywood, cement board and gypsum board. I
have found out plywood is the best material for sound insulation and it has the highest sound
reduction index. The value of intensity decreases as the distance from the source increases.
This is because as the distance increases, the sound would spread out more.

References
https://www.slideshare.net/sixray/sound-insulation-experiment
http://www.answers.com/Q/Effect_of_sound_in_a_building_demonstrator

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14
KONG CHIN CHUAN (17WVD11377)

Sound is defined as Oscillation in pressure, stress, particle displacement, particle

velocity, etc., propagated in a medium with internal forces e.g., elastic or viscous, or the
superposition of such propagated oscillation. Sound can be viewed as a wave motion in air or
other elastic media. In this case, sound is a stimulus. Sound can also be viewed as an
excitation of the hearing mechanism that results in the perception of sound. Sound can
propagate through a medium such as air, water and solids as longitudinal waves and also as a
transverse wave in solids. The sound waves are generated by a sound source, such as the
vibrating diaphragm of a stereo speaker. The sound source creates vibrations in the
surrounding medium. As the source continues to vibrate the medium, the vibrations propagate
away from the source at the speed of sound, thus forming the sound wave. At a fixed distance
from the source, the pressure, velocity, and displacement of the medium vary in time. At an
instant in time, the pressure, velocity, and displacement vary in space. Note that the particles
of the medium do not travel with the sound wave. This is intuitively obvious for a solid, and
the same is true for liquids and gases, that is, the vibrations of particles in the gas or liquid
transport the vibrations, while the average position of the particles over time does not change.
During propagation, waves can be reflected, refracted, or attenuated by the medium.

Discussion Questions
1. Diffraction of sound waves is commonly observed; we notice sound diffracting
around corners or through door openings, allowing us to hear others who are speaking
to us from adjacent rooms. Many forest-dwelling birds take advantage of the
diffractive ability of long-wavelength sound waves. Owls for instance are able to
communicate across long distances due to the fact that their long-wavelength hoots
are able to diffract around forest trees and carry farther than the short-wavelength
tweets of songbirds. Low-pitched (long wavelength) sounds always carry further than
high-pitched (short wavelength) sounds. The reflection of sound follows the law
"angle of incidence equals angle of reflection", sometimes called the law of reflection.
The same behavior is observed with light and other waves, and by the bounce of a
billiard ball off the bank of a table. The reflected waves can interfere with incident
waves, producing patterns of constructive and destructive interference. This can lead
to resonances called standing waves in rooms. It also means that the sound intensity
near a hard surface is enhanced because the reflected wave adds to the incident wave,
giving a pressure amplitude that is twice as great in a thin "pressure zone" near the
surface. This is used in pressure zone microphones to increase sensitivity. Absorption
refers to the process by which a material, structure, or object takes in sound energy
when sound waves are encountered, as opposed to reflecting the energy. Part of the
absorbed energy is transformed into heat and part is transmitted through the absorbing
body. The energy transformed into heat is said to have been 'lost'. Sound is
transmitted through gases, plasma, and liquids as longitudinal waves, also called

15
 compression waves. It requires a medium to propagate. Through solids, however, it
can be transmitted as both longitudinal waves and transverse waves.

2. The transmission coefficient is used in physics and electrical engineering when wave
propagation in a medium containing discontinuities is considered. A transmission
coefficient describes the amplitude, intensity, or total power of a transmitted wave
relative to an incident wave. The sound reduction index is used to measure the level of
sound insulation provided by a structure such as a wall, window, door, or ventilator.
Sound Reduction Index is a measure of the insulation against the direct transmission
of airborne sound.

3. From the 3 building materials (plywood, cement board and gypsum board), plywood
board is the best sound insulation because the sound reduction index is the highest
between three materials.

In conclusion, know that plywood board have a good sound insulation, so it is good to
construct a building, example residential building, hospital and library. Because it can stop all
the complicated sound from coming in with the good sound insulation of it. So that can carry
out activities in a quiet situation.

http://www.paroc.com/knowhow/sound/sound-absorption
http://www.paroc.com/knowhow/sound/sound-insulation

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Sam Chiew Keng Seng (17WVD00194 )
In this experiment we have compared different materials and its effectiveness in absorbing/
reducing noise. The purpose of this experiment is to ensure that in the real world, the right
material can be chosen to reduce the intensity of sound. Once the most suitable material is
determined, it can be used in many construction projects, renovations and can be installed
by owners that prefer silence in their accommodation. To understand the physics behind
sound better, I have researched and found some information about sounds.

1) Sound can travel via many different sound paths, I will elaborate 4 of the paths: diffraction,
reflection, absorption and transmission. these are entirely different sound paths that will have
different implication in real-world situations so let me explain all these in detail:

Diffraction:
In the real-world, there are many many obstacles that gets in our way from hearing things, it
could be a chair, bottle, even a person but due to this amazing characteristic of sound called
diffraction, we are able to pick up all the sounds. Diffraction helps the sound to "bend
around" the obstacles and ultimately reach to our ears. Diffraction is more pronounced with
longer wavelength, therefore low frequencies are heard better around obstacles than higher
frequencies. A good example would be a marching band on the street. This characteristic is
vital to us human to experience sound better.

Reflection:
Like light, sound also can be reflected. Reflection of a wave is the change in direction of a
wave. this phenomenon occurs when sound wave travelling in a medium strikes a surface,
separating sound waves into two. The first part of the wave is reflected back to the origin of
the wave and this action obeys the ordinary laws of reflection. The rest of the waves is either
partly absorbed, refracted or transmitted into another medium. There are three laws of
reflection:
1)The reflection of the sound follows the law angle of incidence equals to the angle of
reflection, called the law of reflection.
2)The incident , the reflected and the normal wave all lie in the same plane.
3)When a longitudinal sound wave strikes a flat surface, sound is reflected in a coherent
manner provided that the dimension of the reflective surface is large compared to the
wavelength of the sound.
Echo is the faint sound that can be heard sometimes after some delay of time when we
shout. the perception of the reflected wave is Echo. It is usually experienced in remote
places, in big and empty rooms, caves and certain buildings et cetera. Echo is officially
defined as:
The Phenomenon in which the sound wave is reflected and hence arrives to the listener after
some time delay after the direct sound.
However, echo must be differentiated from Reverberation.
Echo is when long distances are considered and reverberation is when short distances are
considered. Echo is produced due to the reflection of sound wave by obstacles or end points
like wall etc. Reverberation is different in the sense that it is due to the collection of reflection
sounds from the surface which is completely enclosed. . The distance between the source of
the sound and the obstacle by which it is reflected is less in Reverberation. In reverberation
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the time delay is less than 0.1 second. The reflected wave reaches the observer in less than
0.1 second. Reverberation is usually utilised to enhance voices, it has the ability to make
sounds more pleasing to the human ear. A good example of good reverberation is when we
sing in the shower. The walls are close to us therefore it is a good example. People tend to
think that they sing well but in actuality it is in fact the reverberation doing its trick.

Absorption
Sound can be absorbed by certain materials. When a sound wave hits a particular surface,
The kinetic energy that is driving it is converted into a miniscule amount of heat energy that
dissipates quickly. The power from the sound wave is leeched, causing the energy to decay
faster. some very effective materials that does this is foam and rubber. Therefore, many
soundproof rooms uses these materials specifically to prevent the noise from getting outside
the designated room. Different material has different effectiveness when absorbing sounds
and how well a material absorbs sound depends highly on a number of different factors such
as material density and the porosity of the material.

Transmission
Transmission is one of the most important characteristics of sound. The reason that we are
able to hear sounds is partly also due to transmission. Sound, when produced, is able to
travel to certain distances or shall I say, transmit to a distance. Sound has the ability to
transmit through gases, plasma and liquid as longitudinal waves that is also otherwise
known as compression waves. a medium in any form except for vacuum is required to
propagate sound. That means sound can also transmit through solids but only as
longitudinal waves and transverse waves.

2) During the course of this experiment, we have came across and calculated Transmission
Coefficient and also the Sound Reduction Index.

Sound Reduction Index (SRI) is a measurement of the reduction in the intensity of sound
when it hits a certain position. Sound Reduction Index is usually used to measure the level of
sound insulation provided by any structures such as a door, window or even walls. Different
materials has different effectiveness when insulating noise and therefore to measure the
effectiveness of each material, this method is used. It is also otherwise known as
transmission loss.

Transmission Coefficient is needed in order to define the Sound Reduction Index. when
sound hits the surface of a material, some of the sound will be reflected and some would be
transmitted through the material and that fraction of energy that is transmitted through is
termed transmission coefficient. The sound reduction index is then defined in terms of the
transmission coefficient. The Transmission coefficient is needed in the formula of calculating
Sound Reduction Index.

3) On this experiment we have experimented with 3 different building materials that includes
plywood, cement board and gypsum board.

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All three of these materials has given us different results and based on our results, we have
concluded that the material that provides the best sound insulation is plywood. The reason
for this is because it has the highest overall Sound Reduction Index.

After the completion of this experiment, I have learned a number of things:

1) Sound intensity gets progressively weaker the further it travels and the reason behind
this is because when distance is increased, the sound will spread out more and
therefore the intensity is lowered.
2) Different materials have different sound insulation levels. To determine the best
material for sound insulation, we must calculate Sound Reduction Index. and to
determine the SRI, we have to perform this experiment and test out all the materials.
In the case of our experiment, the best material was plywood. Although in theory,
concrete is supposed to provide the highest level of insulation, I believe that this
experiment has been slightly biased due to some uncontrollable variables: Sounds of
students talking, Sound of students moving around et cetera. For the most accurate
measurements, A quieter environment should be picked.

http://physics.tutorvista.com/waves/sound-reflection.html
http://www.build.com.au/reflection-diffusion-and-absorption-sound
http://performativedesign.com/definition/sound-reduction-index/
Mcmullan, R., (2007). Environmental Science in Building. 6th Edition. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.

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