How The Ear Works

The ear responds to the vibrations that constitute sound, and these are translated into nerve signals and passed to the brain. The ear consists of three parts: outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear.

The outer ear is a funnel that collects sound, directing it down a tube to the ear drum (tympanic membrane), which separates the outer and middle ear. Sounds vibrate this membrane, the mechanical movement of which is transferred to a smaller membrane leading to the inner ear by three small bones, the auditory ossicles. Vibrations of the inner ear membrane move fluid contained in the snail-shaped cochlea, which vibrates hair cells that stimulate the auditory nerve connected to the brain. Three fluid-filled canals of the inner ear detect changes of position; this mechanism, with other sensory inputs, is responsible for the sense of balance.

When a loud noise occurs, muscles behind the eardrum contract automatically, suppressing the noise to enhance perception of sound and prevent injury.


1. Ear canal
2. Eardrum
3-5. Ossicles
6. Oval window
7. Canal leading to the nose
8. Cochlea
9. Auditory nerve




How Sound Travels


A physiological sensation received by the ear, originating in a vibration that communicates itself as a pressure variation in the air and travels in every direction, spreading out as an expanding sphere.

All sound waves in air travel with a speed dependent on the temperature; under ordinary conditions, this is about 330 m/1,070 ft per second. The pitch of the sound depends on the number of vibrations imposed on the air per second, but the speed is unaffected.

The loudness of a sound is dependent primarily on the amplitude of the vibration of the air. The lowest note audible to a human being has a frequency of about 20 hertz (vibrations per second), and the highest one of about 20,000 Hz; the lower limit of this range varies little with the person’s age, but the upper range falls steadily from adolescence onwards.



Common Sound Levels

Here are some commonly heard sounds and their decibel levels. Continued exposure to sound levels louder than 90 decibels will, eventually, cause a hearing loss.

30 Decibels – whisper
50 Decibels – rainfall * quiet office * refrigerator * air conditioner
60 Decibels – dishwasher * sewing machine * normal conversation
70 Decibels – heavy traffic * vacuum cleaner * noisy restaurant * hair dryer
80 Decibels – alarm clock * subway * factory noise
90 Decibels – electric razor * truck traffic * shop tools * lawnmower
100 Decibels – printing press * garbage truck * chain saw * snowmobile
110 Decibels – rock concert * power saw
120 Decibels – jet takeoff * nightclub * thunder
130 Decibels – jack hammer
140 Decibels – shotgun * air raid system
180 Decibels – rocket launching pad