Download Sound Vibrations and the Ear

How do you Hear?
• Your ears are the sense organs that
respond to the stimulus of sound. The ears
convert or change the sound to nerve
impulses that your brain interprets.
How sound is produced
• Sound is produced by vibrations (moving
rapidly back and forth)
• Ex. Guitar string, insect wings, splashing
water
• Vibrations create waves. Waves move
outward from the source of sound, like
ripples moving out from a stone dropped in
water
• Ex.
Air: Hearing your friend talk
Liquid: dolphins communicating
Solid: wood
Sound Vibrations and the Ear
• The ear is structured to receive sound
vibrations.
Outer Ear
Ear Canal
• Sound waves travel
down this canal
Outer Ear
• Eardrum
• Seperates the outer
and middle ear. A
membrane that
vibrates when sound
strikes it
Middle Ear
• Hammer
• Vibrates from the
eardrum and passes
the vibration on to the
anvil
Middle Ear
• Anvil
• Vibrates from the
hammer and passes
the vibration on to the
stirrup
• Stirrup
• Vibrates against a
thin membrane
covering the inner ear
and sends the
vibration into the fluid
in the cochlea
Inner Ear
• Semicircular Canals
• Structures in the ear
that give you your
sense of balance
Inner Ear
• cochlea
• Snail-shaped tube
lined with nerve cells
that respond to sound
when fluid vibrates,
stimulates nerve cells
• Auditory Nerve
• Sensory neurons
send nerve impulses
to the brain through
the auditory nerve.
These are interpreted
as sounds that you
hear
How You Hear
1. Sounds Waves
2. Ear canal
3. Eardrum
4. Hammer
5. Anvil
6. Stirrup
7. Cochlea
8. Auditory Nerve
9. Brain
10. You hear the sound
• Ear Structure and Function
• Anatomy of the Ear
• Hearing
• Frequency
• Sound Transduction
• Effect of Sound Waves on Cochlear Structures