Convert Sabin (sabin) to Barn (b (area)) instantly.
About these units
Sabin (sabin)
A sabin is the acoustic unit of sound absorption area, equivalent to the absorption provided by one square foot of a perfectly absorbing surface. Unlike geometric area units, the sabin measures how much sound energy a surface absorbs rather than its physical size alone. Materials with partial absorption effectiveness—such as acoustic tiles or drapes—contribute fractional sabins depending on their absorption coefficient. Architects and acoustic engineers use sabins to design theaters, concert halls, classrooms, and workplaces. The unit translates directly into reverberation time calculations, making it a foundational concept in architectural acoustics.
Barn (b (area))
The barn is an area unit used almost exclusively in nuclear and particle physics, equal to 10⁻²⁸ square meters. Despite its incredibly tiny size, the barn emerged from humorous origins: early nuclear physicists joked that certain atomic nuclei were "as big as a barn" compared to the particles trying to hit them. The barn quantifies interaction cross-sections—essentially probabilities of particles colliding or interacting with nuclei. Because fundamental forces operate at extremely small scales, typical cross-section values lie in the microbarn, nanobarn, or picobarn range. The barn is essential for describing reaction rates in particle accelerators, nuclear reactors, and astrophysical processes such as stellar fusion.