Block Those Beats

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of this project is aimed for business buildings that either have sound that does not want to flow out to the streets (e.g. Music Schools, Bands, etc.), or buildings that DO NOT want outside sounds (e.g. major business offices, banks, libraries, etc.) can find out what materials are best suitable for soundproofing. I want to prove and show which kind of material is the best for soundproofing. Methods/Materials For this experiment, I will be using six 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch patches of each soundproofing material to patch up my mock-up room. Then, after each kind of material was used, I will use the graphs and see, numerically, which material insulates sound the most. The materials I used in this experiment are: Acoustic Foam (pyramid), Acoustic Foam (wedged), Soundproofing vinyl, Rock Wool, Open-Celled foams, Lego Technic Pieces, Mindstorms NXT Sound Sensor, Lego sound brick, Tape, Computer, Mindstorms NXT DATA LOGGGING Results From my data analysis, I have found that vinyl foam was the best insulator. I also found that rock wool is the worst insulator. I think rock wool wasn#t good because it was very light weight and hollow. Also, because it is fiber glass, I think sound passed through. Conclusions/Discussion In my experiment, I had 2 possible sources of error. The first one is the noise level of where I tested. I tested in a decently quiet place, but there is no such thing as absolute silence. Without knowing, I tested where there were a lot of doors, so people were going in and out. The final possible source of error is how there are small gaps in my LEGO box. Some sound might of escaped from those cracks. In the end, my hypothesis was incorrect. Open-celled foam was the second best insulator, but not the first. If I were to redo my experiment, I would start from a pre-made wooden box, so there won#t be any gaps. I would also go to a much quieter room to test.

Awards (1)

• Fourth Place

Competition history

• CSEF 2011 Materials Science (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1323

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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