Sound And The Ear Flashcards
Auditory nerve
Electrical impulse travel along this nerve to the brain, which interprets them as sounds.
Cochlea
Wthis spiral-shaped tube is filled with fluid. Vibrations cause this fluid to move, and are detected by millions of tiny hairs lining the surface of the cochlea. Receptors attached to these hairs convert their movement into electrical impulses.
Decibel (dB)
Unit used to measure loudness
Ear canal
W
Eardrum
Separates the outer and middle ear. This thin flap of skin stretched tight across the inside of the ear like the skin on a drum. Sound reaches the eardrum makes it vibrate.
Echo
A sound that is reflected and heard a time.
Eustachian tube
Joins the middle ear to the nose and throat. Air moves into, or out of, the middle ear through the tube to balance the air pressure on the other side of the eardrum.
Frequency
He number of waves passing a point every second
Hertz (Hz)
The unit used to measure frequency
Infrasound
W
Loudness & ultrasound
W
Medium
Any kind of matter disturbed by energy
Ossicles (anvil, hammer and stirrup)
Vibrations of the eardrum pass into the ossicles, three tiny bones, called the hammer, anvil and stirrup. Thiene bones magnify the vibrations.
Oval window
Separated the middle and inner ear. Vibrations from the stirrup are transmitted to this thin layer of tissue, and continue through to the cochlea.
Pinna
This is the outer ear. It funnels sound into the ear canal.
