![]() ![]() In the middle ear, the vibrations are transmitted to three linked bones. Sound waves enter the hearing system through the outer ear, traveling down through the inch-long ear canal to strike the tympanic membrane, or eardrum, and making it vibrate. The sounds we hear represent a richly layered mix of frequencies and amplitudes, faithfully transmitted through a finely engineered apparatus. The loudest we can handle without immediately damaging our hearing (for example, standing 100 feet from a jet at takeoff) carries about a million million times more energy than the barely audible. The diversity of sounds we can hear typically ranges from 20Hz (cycles/second) to 20,000Hz. It turns physical movement into the electrical signals that make up the language of the brain, translating these vibrations into what we experience as the world of sound. Amplitude-how wide the pressure variations-determines volume. Frequency-how many cycles per second-determines the pitch of the sound. Such motions as objects striking or rubbing against each other, air agitated by vocal cords, or gases rushing through a car’s muffler produce cyclical pressure variations in the air: sound waves. Words of love, or wisdom the timeless murmur of wind in the trees the warning blare of a car horn the sublime harmonies of Mozart-our sense of hearing informs, enriches, and all too often disrupts our lives. ![]()
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