Let’s now see how the logarithm is used for describing the intensity of a sound. The argument of the logarithm must be a pure number without dimensions or units. We satisfy this requirement by taking the ration of the intensity \(I\) of a sound to \(10^{-12}\mathrm{W/m^2}\), the intensity of a 1000-Hz tone at the threshold of hearing. The \(\textbf{sound intensity level}\) of a sound with intensity \(I\) equals the base-10 logarithm of this ratio multiplied by 10: