How the Ears Work

There are three major parts to the ear; the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear.

THE OUTER EAR
The external ear includes that part which is visible, the ear canal and the ear drum. The visible part is the part of the ear we can all see and it is designed to direct sound into the ear canal. When the sound reaches the end of the ear canal it causes the eardrum to vibrate back and forth, this transfers the sound through to the next stage, the middle ear.

THE MIDDLE EAR
The middle ear is an air-filled space that is kept at equal pressure with the the outside environment. It does this via a tube that is connected to the back of the throat. The middle ear contains three tiny bones (ossicles) that vibrate along with the eardrum and continue the transferring of sound through to the inner ear

THE INNER EAR The inner ear is where the sound waves are analysed. There are many tiny cells in the inner ear which are activated by specific sounds. These cells send messages to the brain via nerves and this allows us to hear.