Here’s a fun video with a range of sounds from an alligator to the loudest sound we know of, which you’ll have to watch to find out—and you’ll want to. (I have heard a white bellbird, and it was LOUD!)
There’s a wallet commercial from 3:00 to 4:00, so you can skip that minute.
I cannot vouch for any of the information given!
Loudest air horn – built / designed by Mark Rober
youtu.be/pFEB0chiuJA?si=_A4bQLEGV0HyqMol
It has a really good demo of speed of sound.
According to my wife, the loudest sound on Earth is my snore.
Your poor wife! I know that snoring can be astoundingly loud. I recall being able to hear my uncle snoring even when there were two closed doors between us. He was diagnosed with sleep apnea. How about you?
Interesting. Thanks Jerry.
Every 3dB is a doubling of power; approximately every 10dB is a doubling of perceived volume. Chicxulub was probably pretty loud, but the Big Bang? OMG!
Nice wallet, too!
There was no air during the Big Bang, so presumably it didn’t make a sound. Of course, there were also no ears, raising the age-old question.
On the basis of output for size, an annoyed Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) produces an extraordinary volume from its mere 10g.
I don’t know what the dBs were, but the loudest noise I’ve ever experienced was watching the very first Space Shuttle launch. My father worked in the program and was able to get us into a viewing area that after that first launch was deemed too close. The sound was overwhelming, as if your hearing system could no longer properly process it. You could feel it, as if all your organs were jiggling. Some people got nauseous. It was a pretty amazing experience.
According to one source a Space Shuttle launch produced ~194 dB. I’ve no idea what that would have been at our distance. Various sources suggest somewhere between 120 – 130 dB, but that’s a huge spread.
I’ve always enjoyed seeing massive rocket launches on film and video, but actually hearing one up close would seem impossible to simulate. I envy your experience.
While I didn’t see that first launch of the Shuttle, I witnessed its landing in California on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base on April 14, 1981.
I was at the front of the observation line as a credentialed reporter — ha! — with a scrappy, semi-professional tv crew standing on top of a rented RV with cameras and binoculars.
Tying into your sonic experience, I actually first heard the Shuttle when it made a double sonic boom high overhead. There’s a 3-minute video summary of the launch and landing at this link: