Fun Fact Friday

The human ear and the Threshold of Hearing.

As much as we may think we have a disadvantage with hearing, our ears are an amazing little collection of  bones, fluids and tissues!

Take our average Threshold of Hearing. The average is a sound with an intensity of 1*10-12 W/m 2 atmosphere. Sound is a pressure wave made up of a high pressure area that displaces air particles, followed by a low pressure area as the particles settle back to their original place. It's like dropping a pebble in water and seeing the big waves followed by the valleys.

A sound with an intensity of 1*10 W/m corresponds to a sound that will displace particles of air by a mere one-billionth of a centimeter.

Again, our ears can sense the pressure change in the air made by air particles, particles that can't even be seen by microscopes, being moved from their position by 1 billionth of a centimeter! That is a thing we can't see moving a distance we cant comprehend.

So, combat. Basically, protect you precious, amazing ears. Something that sensitive does not like sudden high pressure spikes from slaps gone awry and boxing the ears, or loud noises/yelling right in the canal. If your ears have to work extra hard to make sense of pressure waves they wont have the energy/resources to decipher the finer layers and qualities of human speech.

Greg