My Science Fair Project Essay

My science fair project is about the sound transmission through different veneers. A veneer is the outer part of the house. It can also be called a siding. The veneers I used were brick, cement fiber, and vinyl. I used these because they were three very common veneers. I thought if I used common veneers it would make the project mean more because people can see sound transmission through common sidings. The way I built the cement fiber and vinyl siding boxes was, I cut plywood sides. After I cut the sides I nailed them together to make a box. After I made the box I wrapped the houses in house wrap. House wrap is used as a moisture barrier. My purpose for the house wrap is not to stop water from coming in, but, I used it because most houses use it. After I wrapped the houses I nailed the siding on. I then used wood putty to fill the holes. The brick box was a different procedure. After I wrapped the brick box I had to build a platform then I had to lay the brick with mortar. I had to attach the brick to the plywood with the wall ties. I tested my buildings by putting a transistor radio into the plywood box. After I put it in the box I turned it on at a low level, I then put the lid on the box and I used my sound level meter. This meter measures the amount of decibels coming out of the house. A decibel is a unit of measurement for sound. I also did the same thing on a loud and a medium sound level. I did this with all of the boxes. The brick box produced an average of 10.33 decibels at a (80) 43 decibel volume, an average of 13 decibels at a (90) 53 decibel volume, and an average of 19.66 at a (100) 63 decibel volume with a total average of 14.33 decibels. The cement fiber box produced an average of 19 decibels at a (80) 43 decibel volume, an average of 22 decibels at a (90) 53 decibel volume and an average of 30 decibels at a (100) 63 decibel volume. The Vinyl box produced an average of 27 decibels at a (80) 43 decibel volume, an average of 26.66 decibels at a (90) 53 decibel volume and an average of 33 decibels in a (100) decibel volume. My results of my project proved my hypothesis of brick producing the least amount of sound transmission.