What happens when we hear a 1000-decibel sound?

You die. Assuming a broad spectrum of frequencies, I think you'd just disappear in a spray of molecules.

Decibels are a logarithmic scale; 110 decibels is 10 times louder than 100, 120 decibels is 100 times louder than 100 (actually, I should have said 10dB increase is 2 x volume and requires 10 x power).

This puts it quite nicely; the power required to make a 1000 decibel noise for one second is equivalent to the power of the entire sun for 4 billion years (actually I should have said the energy required is greater than that available in the observable Universe).

Edits above in italics, but read the comments where people pointed out the issues with my answer. Apparently this is one of the most upvoted wrong answers! My dad will be so proud!

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Read more answers on Quora.

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