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How Do We Hear?
Sound waves in the air change into electrical impulses in the nerves. The electrical impulses are then carried to the brain.

1. Sound waves first enter the ear through the outer ear which collects sound and funnels it towards the brain.

2. These sound waves then travel down the auditory canal, the pathway to the middle ear, before hitting the ear drum.

3. This drum vibrates with the sound waves and sends them to three tiny bones in the middle ear, called the ossicles. The ossicles make the vibrations bigger and carry them to the inner ear.

4. The three bones of the ossicles are very very small and fit into an area the size of an orange seed!

5. The vibrations now go through the oval window and into the fluid that fills the inner ear.

6. The final destination for sound vibrations is the snail-shaped cochlea. The fluid-filled cochlea coils about itself three times. It is in the hair cells of the organ of Corti that sound energy is changed to electrical nerve impulses.

7. Hair cells have a fringe of fine hairs that stick up into the fluid of the inner ear. The vibrations in the fluid move these hairs and make the electrical signals.

8. Finally, the hearing or auditory nerve carries electrical signals to the brain.