The Human Ear Assignment NAME:

1. What does the pitch of sound depend on?

2. What does the loudness of sound depend on?

3. What does the timbre of sound depend on?

4. What are the three basic parts of the ear?

5. What is the purpose of the outer ear in the task of detecting and interpreting sound?

6. What is the purpose of the middle ear in the task of detecting and interpreting sound?

7. What is the purpose of the inner ear in the task of detecting and interpreting sound?

8. What are the two functions of the ear flap?

9. As sound travels through the outer ear, the sound is still in the form of a_____________________, with an alternating pattern of high and low pressure regions. It is not until the sound reaches the eardrum at the interface of the outer and the middle ear that the energy of the __________________ becomes converted into vibrations of the inner bone structure of the ear.

10. What are the three tiny interconnected bones of the middle ear?

11. Describe the structure of the eardrum?

12. What does the eardrum do?

13. Where are the vibrations of the stirrup transmitted?

14. How do the three tiny bones of the middle ear amplify the vibrations of the sound wave.

15. Why is the force of the vibrating stirrup is nearly 15 times larger than that of the eardrum?

16. What is the function of the Eustachian tube?

17. How can a cold affect the functioning of the Eustachian tube?

18. The inner ear consists of what three components?

19. What is the role of the semicircular canals?

20. How does the cochlea convert compressional waves into neural impulses?