Here are three short ways to say how hearing works:
- Sound goes into the outer ear and hits the eardrum. The eardrum moves tiny bones that send the sound into a snail-shaped tube (cochlea). Nerves then tell the brain.
- Sound waves hit your eardrum, tiny bones pass the sound into the cochlea, and nerves carry the message to your brain.
- Your ear catches sound, parts inside change it into signals in the cochlea, and the nerves send those signals to your brain so you hear.