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2.3: How Hearing Works

Understanding Sound From Ear to Engineer · LibreTexts

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    From LibreTexts, under CC BY-SA 4.0, as the source states it; its equations are written in TeX, which the PDF shows typeset. This page at LibreTexts.

    How Hearing Works

    Step-by-Step:

    1. Sound Collection: The pinna (outer ear) collects sound waves and funnels them into the ear canal.
    2. Vibration: Sound waves strike the eardrum, causing it to vibrate.
    3. Amplification: Vibrations are passed to the ossicles (the three smallest bones in the body: malleus, incus, stapes) in the middle ear.
    4. Conversion: Vibrations enter the cochlea (inner ear), filled with fluid and tiny hair cells that detect different frequencies.
    5. Signal Transmission: Hair cells convert vibrations into electrical signals sent to the brain via the auditory nerve.

    This page titled 2.3: How Hearing Works was last modified on Fri, 01 May 2026 02:54:48 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Geoffrey Dunbar.