As the distance of a sound wave from its source quadruples, how is the intensity changed?
it increases by a factor of 4
it increases by a factor of 16
o it decreases by a factor of 4
it decreases by a factor of 16
biedt

it decreases by a factor of 16

Explanation:

The intensity of a sound wave (as well as of any other type of wave) follows an inverse square law, which means that it is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source:

where

I is the intensity of the sound wave

r is the distance from the source

In this problem, the distance from the source of the sound wave is quadrupled, so the new distance is

Therefore, the new intensity will be:

So, the intensity decreases by a factor of 16.