Sound waves & hearing

• Ear canal - A passageway that connects the external ear to the middle ear.
• Ear drum - A thin membrane that separates the outer ear from the middle ear.
• Ossicles - small bones that vibrate to amplify sound waves and transmit them to the inner ear
• Semicircular canals - 3 semicircular canals in each ear
• Cochlea - The organ of hearing in the inner ear. It is a spiral-shaped structure lined with hair cells.
• Auditory nerve - carries impulses from the cochlea to the brain
• Sound travels fastest in:

  1. solids
  2. liquids
  3. gases