The Ear

The human ear consists of three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear.

The outer ear includes the visible part of the ear, the pinna (pronounced: pin'-uh) and the ear canal. Sound is collected and directed through the ear canal.

The middle ear is an air-filled space separated from the outer ear by the eardrum, tympanic membrane (pronounced: tim-'pa-nik). The middle ear contains the three smallest bones in the human body, the ossicles (pronounced: ah-sihk-ehl-s). These bones connect the eardrum to the inner ear. The eardrum and the ossicles convert sound to mechanical energy. The part of the inner ear responsible for hearing is called the cochlea, (pronounced: kohk-le-a). It is full of fluid and has thousands of tiny nerve fibers. The mechanical action of the ossicular chain creates movement in the fluid that stimulates the nerve fibers. The nerve fibers then send electrical pulses to the auditory nerve and to the brain, which interprets these pulses as sound.

next