What is the Auditory Canal? Passageway between the pinna (earlobe) and the eardrum.
What is the Eardrum? Membrane in the ear that vibrates to sound. (AKA tympanic
membrane.)
What is the Hammer? The ossicle attached to the eardrum. (AKA malleus.) It hits the
anvil.
What is the Anvil? The ossicle between the malleus and stapes. (AKA incus.) The
hammer hits it.
What are the Semicircular Canals? The 3 canals, located at right angles to each other,
that help you maintain your sense of balance.
What is the Cochlea? The snail-shaped tube in the inner ear that is filled with fluid.
What is the Auditory Nerve? The nerve carrying messages from the inner ear to the
brain.
What is the Eustacian Tube? A tube between the ear and the throat (or nasal passage)
that equalizes the pressure between the air outside the ear and the air within the ear.
What is the Stirrup? The ossicle in the middle ear that transmits sound from the incus
(anvil) to the cochlea. (AKA stapes.)
What is the Earlobe? The soft, fleshy part of the external ear. (AKA pinna or auricle.)
What is the Oval Window? The membrane that separates the middle ear from the inner
ear. The stirrup presses against it.
Bonus: What are the Ossicles?
These 3 bones are the hammer, anvil, and stirrup
(AKA malleus, incus, and stapes). Their function is to amplify sound (by 10 times).
Bonus: What is the Tympanic Membrane? Another name for the eardrum.
Bonus: What is the outer ear?
Earlobe and auditory canal. The visible part of the
ear.
Bonus: What is the middle ear?
Part of the ear containing the eardrum, the ossicles,
and the oval window. Since it is sealed from the air, air pressure must be regulated via
the Eustacian tube.
Bonus: What is the inner ear?
Part of the ear containing the semicircular canals,
cochlea, and bony labyrinth (containing hair cells and nerves), and connecting to the
auditory nerve.
Bonus: What is unique about the hammer, anvil, and stirrup?
They are the smallest
bones in the body.
Bonus: Sound waves are tranmitted to the brain by what mechanism? Hair cells in the
bony labyrinth are bent by the waves, and nerves transmit those impulses, which the brain
interprets.