Explain How Does Sound Travel Through The Three Parts Of The Ear

How does sound travel through the three parts of the ear? There are three parts of the ear in which sound must travel; the outer, middle, and inner ear. Sound does not simply go from the outer ear to the inner ear; it must become four different types of energy in order to pass through. These types of energy are acoustic, mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical. Ears work in a pair to help us localize and discriminate where sounds are coming from in our surroundings. It seems hard to believe but our ears never stop working, even when we are sleeping. Our ears have the ability to detect the softest of sounds, when there is no hearing loss. The outer ear is responsible for the detection of sound. The pinna acts like a metal detect for sounds. It collects …show more content…
The mechanical energy is not the vibrating ear drum but what these vibrations set into motion. Before we discuss the function of the mechanical energy we must know what the structures we are working with. The middle ear starts at the tympanic membrane and ends at the cochlea. Within this area of space, we find three small bones that play a major role in sound production. These bones are the malleus, incus, and stapes; together they are referred to as the “ossicles”. The function of the middle ear in terms of sound is the mechanical energy. When the sound waves bounce off the tympanic membrane on one side, setting it in to motion, these vibrations result in the motion of the malleus on the other side is the conversion of acoustic energy to mechanical energy. The malleus is attached to the incus, which in return is attached to the stapes. The ossicles move as a unit and act like a system of pump handles or levers. When the ossicles are sent into action, the result is stapes pushing against the oval window, which in turn moves the cochlea. The cochlea is located in the inner where another conversion of energy will