Question

consider the intensities of the sounds listed below. which lists the amplitudes of sound waves from these sources in order from greatest to least? busy roadway, kids whispering, average home chainsaw, diesel truck, rustling leaves kids whispering, vacuum cleaner, jet airplane library, conversational speech, music from speaker

Explanation:

The amplitude of a sound wave is directly related to its sound level (in decibels). A higher sound level means a greater amplitude.

• Chainsaw has a sound level of 90 decibels.
• Diesel truck (heavy truck traffic) has a sound level of 80 decibels.
• Rustling leaves (not explicitly in the table but we assume it's a very low - level sound, much lower than 80 decibels).

Let's check other options:

• In "busy roadway, kids whispering, average home", busy roadway (say heavy truck traffic is 80 dB) is not greater than non - existent high - level sounds like chainsaw. Kids whispering (20 dB) and average home (say 40 - 50 dB) are low.
• In "kids whispering (20 dB), vacuum cleaner (not in the table but less than 90 dB), jet airplane (130 - 140 dB)", the order is wrong as jet airplane has a higher amplitude.
• In "library (50 dB), conversational speech (60 dB), music from speaker (not in the table but likely less than 90 dB)", the order is wrong as the first two have lower amplitudes than chainsaw.

Answer:

chainsaw, diesel truck, rustling leaves