Science
How does hearing work?
Hearing works by turning sound waves in the air into electrical signals your brain understands. Sound vibrates your eardrum, tiny bones amplify it, and a fluid-filled spiral in your inner ear converts the vibrations into nerve signals.
See it in motion.
Watch a 2-minute animated lesson that shows exactly how hearing works.
Step by step
- 1Sound waves funnel into the ear and vibrate the eardrum.
- 2Three tiny bones amplify and pass on the vibration.
- 3The cochlea, a fluid-filled spiral, turns it into nerve signals.
- 4Tiny hair cells detect different pitches along the cochlea.
- 5The auditory nerve carries the signals to the brain to interpret.
Frequently asked questions
- How does the ear turn sound into something the brain understands?
- Vibrations move fluid in the cochlea, bending tiny hair cells that fire electrical signals along the auditory nerve to the brain.
- How do we tell high and low sounds apart?
- Different spots along the cochlea respond to different pitches, so which hair cells fire tells the brain how high or low the sound is.
- Why can loud noise damage hearing?
- Very loud sound can flatten or kill the delicate hair cells in the cochlea, and they don't grow back, causing permanent loss.