Hearing: Eardrum to Cochlea

Also called

human ear · hearing · eardrum · tympanic membrane · cochlea · ossicles · hammer anvil stirrup · malleus incus stapes · auditory nerve · ear canal · pinna · oval window · hair cells · how we hear · structure of the ear · कान · कर्णपटह · श्रवण

Topics

• The outer ear (pinna) collects sound and sends it down the ear canal to the eardrum.
• Compressions push the eardrum inwards and rarefactions let it move out, so it vibrates with the sound.
• Three tiny bones, the hammer, anvil and stirrup, pass the vibration on and amplify it several times.
• The stirrup presses on the oval window, sending pressure waves into the fluid of the cochlea.
• Inside the cochlea, hair cells bend with the pressure waves and turn them into electrical signals.
• The auditory nerve carries these signals to the brain, which interprets them as sound.
• The pinna and canal are the outer ear, the eardrum and bones the middle ear, the cochlea the inner ear.
• Very loud sounds can damage the hair cells, and damaged hair cells do not grow back.
• Humans hear sounds between about 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz.

About this model

A GLB file of about 432 KB, shown in Lably's 3D viewer and, on a phone, placed in your room with AR. Credit: Model, science and animation: Lably (built procedurally with three.js; no downloaded meshes). | CC BY 4.0. Original geometry and animation made for Lably.

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