The sabin (or more precisely the square foot sabin) is a unit of

sound absorption Acoustic absorption refers to the process by which a material, structure, or object takes in sound energy when sound waves are encountered, as opposed to reflecting the energy. Part of the absorbed energy is transformed into heat and part is tr ...

, used for expressing the total effective absorption for the interior of a room. Sound absorption can be expressed in terms of the percentage of energy absorbed compared with the percentage reflected. It can also be expressed as a coefficient, with a value of 1.00 representing a material which absorbs 100% of the energy, and a value of 0.00 meaning all the sound is reflected. The concept of a unit for absorption was first suggested by American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate ca ...

Wallace Clement Sabine, the founder of the field of

architectural acoustics Architectural acoustics (also known as building acoustics) is the science and engineering of achieving a good sound within a building and is a branch of acoustical engineering. The first application of modern scientific methods to architectura ...

. He defined the "open-window unit" as the absorption of of open window. The unit was renamed the sabin after Sabine, and it is now defined as "the absorption due to unit area of a totally absorbent surface". Sabins may be calculated with either

imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

or metric units. One square foot of 100% absorbing material has a value of one imperial sabin, and 1 square metre of 100% absorbing material has a value of one metric sabin. The total absorption ''A'' in metric sabins for a room containing many types of surface is given by :

A = S_1 \alpha_1 + S_2 \alpha_2 + \ldots + S_n \alpha_n = \sum S_i \alpha_i ,

where ''S''₁, ''S''₂, ..., ''S''_''n'' are the areas of the surfaces in the room (m²) and ''α''₁, ''α''₂, ..., ''α''_n are the

absorption coefficient The linear attenuation coefficient, attenuation coefficient, or narrow-beam attenuation coefficient characterizes how easily a volume of material can be penetrated by a beam of light, sound, particles, or other energy or matter. A coefficient valu ...

s of the surfaces. Sabins are used in calculating the reverberation time of

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that m ...

s, lecture theatres, and

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large en ...

References

Sources

* * {{cite book , last1=Moore , first1=John Edwin , title=Design for Good Acoustics and Noise Control , date=1979 , publisher=Macmillan , location=London , isbn=978-03332-4-293-3 , url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Design_for_Good_Acoustics_and_Noise_Cont/RD5dDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

External links

Understanding sabins
from NetWell Noise Control Units of measurement Sound measurements