Question 1
Paper 1Hard6 marksDuring an acoustic test, sound level in decibels (dB), is defined by
where is the sound intensity and is a fixed reference intensity. When machines operate together, their sound intensities add.
Machine A alone produces a sound level of dB and machine B alone produces a sound level of dB.
Show that if the sound levels of A and B are and respectively, then
Determine the sound level when A and B operate together. Give your answer to the nearest dB.
Identical copies of machine A are used instead. Determine the least whole number of copies needed for their combined sound level to be at least the level found in part (b).