system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Is there a point where something can’t get any louder - i.e. the loudest something can be on earth, or can something just keep getting louder?
gpt
Sound is a pressure vibration of the medium that it’s traveling through. The wave oscillates around the normal pressure value, and pressure can’t be negative, so the maximum amplitude is when the wave goes from 0 to 2x. In air at 1 atm, this corresponds to 194 decibels. Any energy above this creates a shock wave instead of a sound wave.

Sounds can be louder underwater, and can’t get as loud at altitude.