In order to wake a sleeping child, the volume on an alarm clock is tripled. Under this new scenario, how much more energy will be striking the child's ear drums each second?

Question

A. twice as much

B. three times as much

C. approximately 4.8 times as much

D. six times as much

E. nine times as much

What do I need to know to find this?

Answer 1

you need to know sound power is directly proportional to sound amplitude(intensity) squared

Answer 2

Answer is E.
Volume is directly proportional to amplitude of sound. Energy is proportional to amplitude squared. If you triple the amplitude, you multiply the energy by 9.