Our ears is made up of three different parts, known as the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. Each part works together to enable us to hear sounds.
How the ear works
Our ears is made up of three different parts, known as the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. Each part works together to enable us to hear sounds.
The Outer Ear
The outer ear consists pinna and the ear canal. Outer ear collects the sounds and transmits to the ear drum, a membrane that divides the outer and middle ear.
The Middle Ear
The middle ear is air filled cavity and consists of the three smallest bones in our body, called the malleus, the incus, and the stapes. These bones are called ossicles, vibration of ear drum passed on to ossicles which passes the sounds from the middle ear to the inner ear. The middle ear also contains the eustachian tube, which is connected to your nose and throat, and performs the function of ventilating the middle ear.
The Inner Ear
The inner ear consists of two parts: organs of hearing (cochlea) and balance functions (Semicircular Canals)
The Cochlea
The cochlea is a snailed shape tube. It contains outer, middle and inner three fluid filled chambers. Within the inner chamber is the organ of corti, which contains thousands of hair cells, of which each one has minute formations called stereocilia. It also contains the auditory nerve, which sends signals to our brain.
The Semicircular Canals
The semicircular canals are mainly balance organs, and are not used for hearing. As with the cochlea they are filled with liquid and contain hair cells. The semicircular canals work to send information to our brain about the direction our head is moving.
How we hear
Sound travel in form of waves. The outer ear collects the sound waves, which then move along the ear canal and are transmitted to the eardrum. This in turn causes the eardrum to vibrate. This vibration is then passed on to the ossicles, the three smallest bones in the body, which increase the sound and send it through to the inner ear. The hair cells in the inner ear generates an electrical signal that is passed along the auditory nerve to the brain.