16 What is sound? Sound is the mental perception of waves produced by objects that vibrate. The sound waves are decoded by the complex acoustic means of humans, our ears. To measure the volume level of a sound, we use the decibel scale (dB). The scale was named in honor of the American physicist specializing in acoustics, Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), more widely known for the invention of the telephone. The invention of the telephone is based on the variations in the air pressure (when one speaks to the receiver), formed by the amplitude of the sound wave. What is noise? Noise is any unwanted sound. Airborne is the noise transmitted through the air. Structure borne is the noise transmitted through solid objects, such as the structural components of a building. Impact noise is the structure borne noise generated from impacts, strikes etc. What is noise pollution? Noise pollution is the bothersome noise in the environment. It is the second environmental hazard to human health, next to environmental pollution. A World Health Organization study has shown that exposure to noise pollution is detrimental to human health. According to the research, the continuous and long-lasting exposure of the human body to noisy environments causes hearing damages, headaches, dizziness, nausea and even heart problems. Blood pressure is increased, stress is exacerbated and psychosomatic illnesses appear. Sleep, concentration and also learning abilities are all disturbed. ‘Victims’ of the degradation of the acoustic environment are, above all, the people living in large cities, with public transport being the largest source of noise pollution. Due to their nature, countries that qualify as vacation destinations are exposed to noise in all tourist attraction spots. Let us take a closer look at the attitudes of the people living in large cities... A large percentage of them are irritable and easy to upset, sometimes violently erupting without obvious reasons and present psychosomatic problems. A few words about sound
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