How the ear works? - Working Mechanism

Everything to Know about Ear:

Out of all your senses, your sense of hearing is the fastest.

It takes about 0.2 seconds for your brain to process the light that reaches your eye.

Your sense of touch also takes about the same amount of time before your brain responds. But your hearing, once a sound wave reaches your ear the brain recognizes it in just 0.05 seconds.

If sound travels at a speed of only 340 meters per second whereas the speed of light is 300 million meters per second, how can hearing be faster?

Technically hearing or seeing only start when a sound or light reaches your ear or eye.

 It doesn't matter how much time the sound waves take to get to your ear, the only thing that matters is how long it takes for the signal to get from your ear to your brain.

Your ear does more than just let you hear sounds. It also gives you a sense of equilibrium.

Your inner ear is full of fluid. When you move your head this fluid moves which then signals to your brain that you are moving. This fluid can also tell your brain about your position that is whether you're standing or sitting up or lying down.

We all know that we taste food with our taste buds but your ears also help in transmitting taste signals to your brain. There are nerves that connect the tongue to the brain. These nerve bundles just happen to run through the middle ear as well. This is why an ear infection or surgery can potentially affect your capability to recognize flavor.

Have you ever wondered, Why you get slightly deaf when you go high up?

 On mountains your middle ear connects to the back of your nasal passages through a tiny tube known as the eustachian tube.

There is a constant absorption of air in the middle ear and the eustachian tube helps resupply the air. This flow helps equalize pressure at high altitudes. The pressure changes are harder to keep up with and you can get that stuffy feeling that makes it harder to hear.

You can never turn off your sense of hearing it's on even when you are sleeping. When you are sleeping your ears pick up sounds but your brain blocks them out so that normal noises don't disrupt sleep.

Your outer ear is a handy built-in equalizer that reduces the background noise. The outer ear acts like a funnel, its function is to collect amplify and direct the sounds further inside. 

The human outer ear also helps determine sound direction, where a sounds from the front and sides are enhanced by the pinna. Those coming from the back are reduced. This helps you localize the origin of a sound.

The middle ear contains the smallest bones in your entire body with the stapes being the tiniest. These three little bones help transmit sounds to the inner ear all together. They can fit on a penny.

 These incredibly tiny structures all work together to give you the ability to hear, help you taste and let you maintain your balance the ear.

 Truly, ear is one of the most remarkable systems in the human body and hearing as amazing as the sense is it's only one of its functions.