Let’s look at the parts of the ear. The flap on the outside of your head is called the outer ear. It leads to a long tunnel called the ear canal. At the end of the ear canal is a skin stretched across the tunnel—tight like a drum. This is called the eardrum.
Let’s see what happens to sound waves as they move through the ear. We’ll use the sound from a radio as an example. The sounds from the radio travel in waves. The waves are collected by the outer ear and sent through the other parts of the ear to the brain. Now, let’s see how each part works.