Which action is most likely to decrease beam intensity?

• A. Increasing beam area
• B. Increasing receiver gain
• C. Increasing acoustic output
• D. Increasing focusing

Answer: (A)

Beam intensity is the power carried by the beam per unit area. If you spread the same transmitted power over a larger area, that power is diluted and the intensity decreases. So increasing the beam area makes the beam less intense. Increasing the acoustic output would push more power into the beam, raising intensity; increasing focusing concentrates energy into a smaller region, increasing intensity at the focus; and increasing receiver gain changes how the signal is amplified after reception without altering the emitted beam’s power distribution.