How much bass would it take to destroy the universe? The simple answer: 1,100 decibels, and some of you might say to yourself: “1,100 decibels just doesn’t seem like it would be that loud.” You’re right, it doesn’t. Firing a handgun creates about 140 db of sound, a plane’s engine produces 180 db, and professional football stadiums have recorded volumes up to 120 db. So, theoretically, if we combined the 12 NFL stadiums that will host games this upcoming weekend, the result would be 1,440 decibels – enough to destroy the universe, right? Not exactly.
Decibels are a complicated unit, measured logarithmically. Combining the volume from 12 NFL stadiums into one punctuated sound would produce about 130.9 decibels. A watt, on the other hand, is easier to understand. 1,100 decibels converted is roughly 100 watts – with 97 more zeros added to the end. If, hypothetically, you were able to create a sound roughly 100 watts, with 97 more zeros added to the end, the mass generated would cause a black hole 5 times the size of the observable Universe, and when our Sun is collapsed by the black hole (which would happen instantaneously) it’s resulted diameter would be only 3km.
Fortunately, physics tells us that producing such a sound is impossible. We have hope that someone, somewhere, will read this and try.
Source: Every Day Science Stuff
