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Long range flying and what this dB stuff means.

The first thing to do is watch Kahn Academies video on calculating decibels

The video also points out how sensitive the human ear is.

P = power in Watts (W) = Work / time

Work is an energy measurement. What is energy? That’s a question which will stump pretty much everyone. The answer is probably another question. Why? Don’t hurt your brain with this one too much…. moving on.

J = Joules = an energy measurement.

Work(J) = Force * Distance

Force = measured in Newtons (N)

1N =  about 102grams * gravity

The actual formula being

F = m * a

Force = mass * acceleration

So 1 Newton of force is about half the mass of your house / car keys just sitting in your hand.

Lift your car keys 1 metre in one second. That is 1 Watt of energy.

You car keys have a footprint that fills the palm of your hand. You can feel it.

Spread that weight over 3 times the size of Germany, or for the Aussies reading this, a bit less than the size of the Northern Territory.  You couldn’t feel that with your hand, but your ears could hear it.

OK, It have to come back to this article to explain how it relates to long range flying.