Sound Part Two: The Ear And Pitch And Loudness Flashcards
What is pitch determined by? Explain
Determined by a sound waves’ frequency change. The lower the frequency the lower the pitch. The higher the frequency the higher the pitch
What does the loudness of a sound depend on? Explain
Depends on the amplitude. A quiet sound means a small wave so a smaller distance from the peak to the rest like (amplitude). A loud sound means a bigger wave and a larger distance between the peak to the rest line (amplitude).
For both the quiet and loud sounds, the wave will have the same period. What does that mean it looks like.
The width is the same. The distance from peak to peak/crest to crest etc.
Sound is a longitudinal wave so how can we tell its amplitude and frequency?
Using a oscilloscope
What does an oscilloscope do?
They can be used to see a sound wave in the form of a transverse wave as it shows the shape of the vibrations sound creates.
What is the hearing range for humans?
20Hz to 20,000Hz
What is hertz?
It’s the unit for frequency, it tells us how many vibrations something manages per second
Sound travels through the ear so we can hear things. What does it travel through the ear in?
Vibrations through the air
What collects sound through the air?
The outside part of your ear, the pinna
Where does the pinna take the air after collecting it from the air?
It funnels it down the auditory canals
There is a bit of stretched skin in your ear; what’s it called?
The eardrum
What happens after the sound gets funnelled down auditory canals?
It will cause the eardrum to vibrate causing vibrations to pass onto three small bones in your ear
The ear drum passes sound into three small bones; what’re they called and what do they pass sound onto?
Ossicles pass sound into semi circular canals
What happens after sound passes through the semi circular canals?
It goes into a snail shaped tube thing called the cochlea
What happens when sound gets passed to the cochlea?
It’s filled with liquid and the vibrations of sound cause hairs in the liquid to move which sends electrical signals down to the brain
In order for the cochlea to send electrical signals to the brain, it has to pass something: what is it?
The auditory nerve
How is a microphone similar to the ear?
Sound vibrates the diaphragm, which converts the vibrations into electrical pulses and sends the pulses to a receiver
What three fancy names plus two other names do damage to the ear?
Prebycusis
Sensorineural loss
Conductive loss
Eardrum damage/burst
Blockage of the auditory canal
Sounds above 90 decibels does damage to the hearing in the long run; sounds over 140 do damage in the moment and permanently; this has something to do with the ear drum: what is it?
These loud sounds cause damage to the ear drum and may even cause it to burst. It can grow back, but with grow with scar tissue, changing its ability to vibrate properly.
How does blockage of the inner ear or the auditory canal limit hearing?
The noise will be muffled
And will block and/or modify the transmission of vibrations
What is conductive loss?
Loud noises can harm the ossicles. They could get disconnected and this will damage hearing significantly. They can also get calcium deposited due to age and that aloe limits vibration transmission. Can be fixed by surgery
What is sensorineural loss?
Damage to the cochlea that cannot be repaired. If a loud vibration gets to the cochlea it could break the hair cells so they can’t bend to vibrate. The hairs could also be made stiffer so they can’t reload to vibrations as well
What is prebycusis?
You’ll gradually lose hearing as you grow older and age related hearing loss is called prebycusis. It’s the most common and is cause by loudness, noise exposure and aging.
What in the ear limits the human hearing?
The ear drum. The shape and size of it
