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What is sound ? sound is a wave wave motion is a transfer of energy, without transferring matter spund waves require a medium to travel through, such as the air when you are speaking unlike light wave
Your ears are extraordinary organs. They pick up all the sounds around you and then translate this information into a form your brain can understand. One of the most remarkable things about this process is that it is completelymechanical. Your sense of smell, taste and vision all involve chemical reactions, but your hearing system is based solely on physical movement. In this article, we'll look at the mechanical systems that make hearing possible. We'll trace the path of a sound, from its original source all the way to your brain, to see how all the parts of the ear work together. When you understand everything they do, it's clear that your ears are one of the most incredible parts of your body! To understand how your ears hear sound, you first need to understand just what sound is. An object produces sound when it vibrates in matter. This could be a solid, such as earth; a liquid, such as water; or a gas, such as air. Most of the time, we hear sounds traveling through the air in our atmosphere. When something vibrates in the atmosphere, it moves the air particles around it. Those air particles in turn move the air particles around them, carrying the pulse of the vibration through the air. To see how this works, let's look at a simple vibrating object: a bell. When you hit a bell, the metal vibrates -- flexes in and out. When it flexes out on one side, it pushes on the surrounding air particles on that side. These air particles then collide with the particles in front of them, which collide with the particles in front of them, and so on. This is called compression. When the bell flexes away, it pulls in on the surrounding air particles. This creates a drop in pressure, which pulls in more surrounding air particles, creating another drop in pressure, which pulls in particles even farther out. This pressure decrease is called rarefaction. In this way, a vibrating object sends a wave of pressure fluctuation through the atmosphere. We hear different sounds from different vibrating objects because of variations in the sound wave frequency. A higher wave frequency simply means that the air pressure fluctuation switches back and forth more quickly. We hear this as a higher pitch. When there are fewer fluctuations in a period of time, the pitch is lower. The level of air pressure in each fluctuation, the wave's amplitude

Microphones record sound by means of a diaphragm whose motions are converted into electric currents, with variations in current corresponding to higher and lower compressions RON

Human ear - outer ear this part, , that which you cannot see - middle ear, inner ear The outer ear pinna collects sound (how shape of pinna helps brain determine whether sound is coming from front or back) structure helps you determine the direction of a sound. If a sound is coming from
behind you or above you, it will bounce off the pinna in a different way than if it is coming from in front of you or below you. This sound reflection alters the pattern of the sound wave. Your brain recognizes distinctive patterns and determines whether the sound is in front of you, behind you, above you or below you. Your brain determines the horizontal position of a sound by comparing the information coming from your two ears. If the sound is to your left, it

will arrive at your left ear a little bit sooner than it arrives at your right ear. It will also be a little bit louder in your left ear than your right ear. sound waves travel into the ear canal, they vibrate the tympanic membrane (eardrum) ompressions and rarefactions in sound waves move your eardrum back and forth Before the sound passes on to the inner ear, the total pressure (force per unit of area) must be amplified. This is the job of the ossicles, a group of tiny bones in the middle ear. The ossicles are the smallest bones in your body. They include:

The malleus, commonly called the hammer The incus, commonly called the anvil The stapes, commonly called the stirrup When the eardrum vibrates, it moves the malleus from side to side like a lever. The other end of the malleus is connected to the incus, which is attached to the stapes. The other end of the stapes -- its faceplate -- rests against the cochlea, through the oval window. When air-pressure compression pushes in on the eardrum, the ossicles move so that the faceplate of the stapes pushes in on the cochlear fluid. When air-pressure rarefaction pulls out on the eardrum, the ossicles move so that the faceplate of the stapes pulls in on the fluid. Essentially, the stapes acts as a piston, creating waves in the inner-ear fluid to represent the air-pressure fluctuations of the sound wave. cochlea take the physical vibrations caused by the sound wave and translate them into electrical information the brain can recognize as distinct sound. cochlea structure consists of three adjacent tubes

The organ of corti is a structure containing thousands of tiny hair cells. It lies on the surface of the basilar membrane and extends across the length of the cochlea. Until a wave reaches the fibers with a resonant frequency, it doesn't move the basilar membrane a whole lot. But when the wave finally does reach the resonant point, the membrane suddenly releases a burst of energy in that area. This energy is strong enough to move the organ of corti hair cells at that point. When these hair cells are moved, they send an electrical impulse through the cochlear nerve. The cochlear nerve sends these impulses on to the cerebral cortex, where the brain interprets them. The brain determines the pitch of the sound based on the position of the cells sending electrical impulses. Louder sounds release more energy at the resonant point along the membrane and so move a greater number of hair cells in that area. The brain knows a sound is louder because more hair cells are activated in an area. The cochlea only sends raw data -- complex patterns of electrical impulses. The brain is like a central computer, taking this input and making some sense of it all. This is an extraordinarily complex operation, and scientists are still a long way from understanding everything about it. Scientists are making rapid advancements.

Bats use sound to navigate and to catch prey. Bats use sound by generating an ultrasound with their open mouth. Their ultrasound uses frequency ranges that vary between 14,000 and 100,000 Hz. Insects and other targets are found by using the ultrasound. After finding the location of their prey, bats descend from roosts and attack them. Because bats have such poor eyesight, they often use ultrasound as a means to see in the night as well.

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Dolphins also use sound to locate prey. Using echolocation, dolphins emit short pulses of sound with high frequency and intensity. They locate their prey after the sound reflects against the target. They identify the size and shape of the prey, as well as its current location. After finding the prey, if the dolphin cannot catch the evading creature, it will emit a powerful click to potentially stun the small target. Read more: Animals That Use Sounds As a Weapon | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_7782877_animalsuse-sounds-weapon.html#ixzz25ncxWgSF

Male lions that lead a pack use sound as a means to protect their position as the leader. Roaring is used by these males as a weapon to maintain their territory. Their roars are heard from miles away, and identifies to rivals the sex and location of the male leader. If an intruder enters withing the range of the roar, it is attacked by other members of the male leader's pack. Read more: Animals That Use Sounds As a Weapon | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_7782877_animalsuse-sounds-weapon.html#ixzz25nd4Khqd

Beavers use their tail for reasons other than swimming. The beaver will slap its tail on the water as a form of protection and communication. When alarmed by predators, beavers will slap their tail, making a loud booming sound. Predators will be scared by the sound made by the beavers and run away. Other beavers in the area will hear the sound and move to a safe area. If a predator is unfazed by the slapping and approaches, beavers will attempt to keep the predator at bay with repeated tail slaps in its direction. After awhile, the predator will grow tired and retreat. Read more: Animals That Use Sounds As a Weapon | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_7782877_animalsuse-sounds-weapon.html#ixzz25nd9R4Jy

In addition to scent marking, giant pandas also communicate vocally. They have up to 11 different sounds. In order to intimidate another panda, they will make a barking sound. During the reproductive season, a mating pair will produce a goat-like bleating sound. Other sounds that have been witnessed include, bleating and honking, huffing, barking, and growling sounds. Read more: How Do Pandas Communicate? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4567356_pandascommunicate.html#ixzz25ndNtCUH Birds use sound in a number of ways, but mainly for three purposes: - To announce their presence, by which to proclaim territory - To attract mates - To warn others of danger

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