About the Ear

For Your Information

The ear has three main parts:

1. The external or outer ear (the part you can see) opens into the ear canal.
2. The middle ear is separated from the external ear by the eardrum. Small bones in the middle ear help transfer sound to the inner ear.
3. The inner ear consists of a hearing portion, the cochlea, and a balance organ. These relay information to the brain via the hearing and balance nerve.

Sound consists of vibrations--or sound waves--travelling through the air. The shape of the ear captures sound and funnels it into the ear opening and down the ear canal. When sound strikes your eardrum, it causes it to vibrate and passes the impulse to the small bones of the middle ear, which transmit them to the hearing nerve in the inner ear. Here, the vibrations become nerve impulses and go directly to the brain, which interprets the impulses as sound (music, voice, a car horn, etc.).