Hearing Definition and 63 Threads

Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds by detecting vibrations, changes in the pressure of the surrounding medium through time, through an organ such as the ear. The academic field concerned with hearing is auditory science.
Sound may be heard through solid, liquid, or gaseous matter. It is one of the traditional five senses. Partial or total inability to hear is called hearing loss.
In humans and other vertebrates, hearing is performed primarily by the auditory system: mechanical waves, known as vibrations, are detected by the ear and transduced into nerve impulses that are perceived by the brain (primarily in the temporal lobe). Like touch, audition requires sensitivity to the movement of molecules in the world outside the organism. Both hearing and touch are types of mechanosensation.

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  1. Daniel Petka

    Why does a series of pulses generate a pitch?

    Here's the thing: the ear detects a pitch by splitting a sound wave into it's frequency components in the cochlea, which is in a way a spatial Fourier transform (ish...) But I never liked this analogy because it doesn't explain why I hear a pitch when a series of pulses entern my ear. A single...
  2. berkeman

    Improving hearing "Signal to Noise" by turning your head

    I have long found myself turning my head fairly quickly when a noise steps on something I'm trying to hear. Sometimes it is just a noise like a bang or a pop that steps on a conversation I'm listening to, and sometimes it will happen when another person starts to speak and interferes with a...
  3. jedishrfu

    Medical BOSE Hearing Aids and Hearing Assist Technology

    The FDA approved a new class of hearing devices, BOSE hearing aids as described in this Tech Crunch article: https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/05/bose-hearing-aid-gets-fda-approval/ What's unique is that they are self adjusted via a phone app and don't require a audiologist to perform the work...
  4. O

    Audio/Video Audio Streamer for Hearing Aids

    <Moderator's note: link removed as advertisement.> Hello!To those who are reading this post, I need your help! I’m sure I will find here experienced and skilled people willing to give me a hand with this project.First, I’m French, and even if I’ll do my best to write correctly in your language...
  5. A

    What Type of Physics is Mentioned in This Italian TV Series?

    Hi Everyone, I am currently working on a project where I am creating English subtitles for an Italian TV Series, for deaf and hard of hearing. There is one particular line I am struggling to hear and it is where one of the characters is talking about a type of physics. I wondered if anyone...
  6. G

    I What chemicals inside a hearing aid battery make it explode?

    I saved 75 used hearing aid batteries and threw them into a fire. It took about 8 seconds then, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...
  7. epenguin

    Constancy of audio power from battery (hearing aid)

    I have recently had to adopt hearing aids. I shall soon be taking them back to supplier for adjustment/repair/replacement of one of them. What seems to happen is that with new (lithium) battery it gives sign of life and some amplification into the right ear, but after a few hours there is no...
  8. Const@ntine

    Sound Intensity (Level) - Hearing Aid

    Homework Statement A man is wearing a hearing aid device that increases the frequency of the sounds the human ear can conceive, by 30 db. The device "catches" a sound of frequency f = 50 Hz, and intensity I = 3.00 * 10-11 W/m2. What's the intensity that the man's ear hears? Homework...
  9. Adam Rabe

    Tone hearing frequency concept question

    Homework Statement Homework Equations Dont know any sorry The Attempt at a Solution I tried imagining the ear as some sort of harmonic pipe with the sound coming inside as a sine wave. The question says the sine wave is not fully sinosoidal and is flattened at the top and bottom. I don't...
  10. chem31sa6

    Hearing the Train Whistle Frequency: Calculating fs

    Homework Statement You are standing on a train station platform as a train goes by close to you. As the train approaches, you hear the whistle sound at a frequency of f1 = 92 Hz. As the train recedes, you hear the whistle sound at a frequency of f2 = 79 Hz. Take the speed of sound in air to be...
  11. I

    If we lose our hearing, are afferent nerves still firing?

    If we lost our hearing from a loud sound, does that just mess up the mechanics of the ear or does it affect the afferent nerves that would actually carry the signal if it could be detected? Thanks for any responses!
  12. A

    Hearing a Sound Wave: Does Intensity Matter?

    Does the ability of an observer to hear a sound wave depends solely upon the intensity of the sound wave?
  13. Tam Le

    Hearing which natural frequencies

    If you pluck a guitar or cello string, the string vibrates at its fundamental and harmonic frequencies. Suppose the 3rd harmonic has the greatest vibrational amplitude out of all the other rung-out natural frequencies. Do we still associate the pitch with the fundamental, or will the pitch now...
  14. Kevin Harper

    Are 7.1 surround sound headphones possible?

    I am very much into video games. Day Z, Battlefield and stuff like that. In these games it is important to have good headphones so you can hear people sneak up on you, but recently, I have seen ads for 7.1 Surround Sound headphones that actually have multiple drivers in them so that the sound...
  15. S

    Sound intensities in hearing aids

    What decibel increase does a hearing aid produce if its sound gathering area is 900cm^2, the area of the eardrum is 0.5cm^2, but it only has an efficiency of 5% in transmitting sound to the eardrum? I know sound level = 10log(final intensity/initial intensity), but we've only been given areas...
  16. marcus

    Hearing a drum's shape as approach to quantum gravity (Kempf)

    "Hearing a drum's shape" as approach to quantum gravity (Kempf) Achim Kempf and his students have coded an ITERATIVE procedure for finding the shape that when struck has a given sound spectrum. He shows brief movie clips of the computer finding the correct shape by successive approximations, as...
  17. A

    Hearing Voices: Experiences of Hallucinations Caused by Sensory Deprivation

    Analogous to visual hallucinations caused by sensory deprivation, http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/hallucinations/This has happened to me a few times Does anyone else have these experiences?
  18. K

    How Far Can You Hear the Siren at 2400 Hz?

    The sound level from a siren emitting sound with a frequency of 2400 Hz is 75.0 dB at a distance of 47.0 m from the siren. Assume that the intensity of that sound obeys the inverse square law. Calculate how far from the siren a person, with a threshold of hearing of 36.0 dB at that frequency...
  19. W

    How can we improve cochlear implants for better sound quality and functionality?

    Before, I get into detail most or no one does not have this product. This is a device to those who has lost hearing. I would like to introduce to you 2 products of hearing devices to help the Deaf to hear. I am the candidate of these 2 devises. The first one is called Cochlear. In 2007, from...
  20. O

    Reversing/curing hearing loss (part 2)

    reversal of hearing loss reversing/curing hearing loss Sensorineural Hearing Loss moe & holycow1, since you made these queries, recent research suggests certain types of hearing loss is reversible; specifically sensorineural (that has resulted in senescence of receptor hair cells in the...
  21. G

    Sound Intensity and Threshold of hearing

    My textbook says that in the equation β= 10log(I1/I2), I1 in most cases is the threshold of hearing (1.0x10^-12). Just out of curiosity, when is I1 not the threshold of hearing?
  22. C

    Probability of Hearing the 5th Beatles Song First

    Homework Statement A particular iPod playlist contains 100 songs, 10 of which are by the Beatles. What is the probability that the first Beatles song heard is the fifth song played? Homework Equations Combinatorics: permutation, combinations. The Attempt at a Solution The number of desired...
  23. D

    Sound Intensity Level and Hearing Problem

    Thank you for the help!
  24. Z

    Light-Based Hearing: Is it Possible?

    Ok, I am not even remotely a physicist. However I did have this thought. Is it possible to hear with your eyes. Can a device be rendered in such a way to transmit light so that when the eyes saw it, that it would be interpreted as Audio not video so to speak. Just general curiosity! Any...
  25. J

    Hearing radio through gas heater possible?

    Here's a bit of a weird one. My grandmother (93 years old but "still with it" mostly) had a natural gas heater installed last year. It's one of those wall mounted heaters with a flue. Anyway, several weeks ago she told my parents she could hear the radio through it at night. I was quick to...
  26. X

    Interested in hearing opinions about this

    Hey all! Just wanted to hear some thoughts about this. My girlfriends sister currently works at NASA. I am not exactly sure what she does, something with cooling liquid nitrogen to temperatures at almost absolute zero. The thing is, she doesn't have a science degree. In fact she was picked...
  27. Cyrus

    Hearing a lot of people lost all of their 401ks

    I need to start working on setting up one, but I need to figure out how this works. So, any thoughts or links would be appreciated. What are the risks, etc. I've been hearing a lot of people lost all of their 401ks. Any truth to this? Side note: apologies for being the donkey by posting the...
  28. B

    Students were testing their hearing range

    In an experiment, students were testing their hearing range and found that it averaged about 25 Hz to 18 000 Hz. What are the wavelengths of sound waves producing these frequencies in air where the speed of sound is 343 m/s? Would I use the formula wavelength= velocity/ frequency...
  29. J

    What does stability mean in chemistry?

    In chemistry, we are always hearing the term 'stability'.But i am really confused , or can't get the actual meaning of that term.When i asked my friends, they said that stability can only be explained in a given situation.for example, A ball at a height above the Earth's surface is not...
  30. B

    Hearing Aid Pick-Up-Coil Circuits

    Hello, As the title suggests my query relates to hearing aid pick up coil circuits! I'm currently designing a small analogue listening device (a Transistor amplifier with a microphone input...simple!) however, I'm going beyond that and want to incorporate a small pick-up coil into the...
  31. C

    Hearing Sound: How Does It Travel?

    if a person speak something , the person just behind him is able to listen to that sound. so how does this disturbance traveled to the later persons??
  32. S

    Bat Echolocation - Can Bats Locate Prey in the Dark?

    Homework Statement Bats are mainly active at night. They have several senses that they use to find their way about, locate prey, avoid obstacles, and "see" in the dark. Besides the usual sense of vision, bats are able to emit high-frequency sound waves and hear the echo that bounces back...
  33. M

    Sound intensity and the hearing distance

    Homework Statement A tiny speaker emits sound with a frequency of 1000Hz evenly on all sides. On a distance of 1m from the loudspeaker is an amplitude variation of the particles of air 0.005 μm. On what distance we can barely hear the sound, if the limit of the audible strength or...
  34. U

    How Do Hearing Aids Amplify and Filter Sound?

    Well we have to describe how hearing aids amplify sound. I need a understanding of the physics behind it how its works, no stuff about transistors and how its built. So like how does it amplify sound. ie change amplitude, wave length. etc Also how they remove unnecessary noises. If you can...
  35. K

    Sound and hearing - conceptual question?

    Stars other than our sun normally appear featureless when viewed through telescopes. Yet astronomers can readily use the light from these stars to determine that they are rotating and even measure the speed of their surface. How do you think they can do this?
  36. wolram

    Listening to a radio and hearing pop sound

    Siting listening to the radio i hear a quit loud (pop) ,enough to make me wonder what the heck, looking around i could'nt think of what could caused it, it was only after hearing this (pop) several tlimes over the weeks that i found the cause, it was a coke bottle POPING back to its normal...
  37. dlgoff

    Are Hearing Aids Worth the Cost?

    It probably won't be too many years before I'm going to need a hearing aid. I've looked into some of the ones out there and am wondering if the costs are justified. Yes I know they are a miniature and the good ones are digital (making it possible to program for custom spectrums), but the...
  38. F

    Physics Hard of Hearing or Deaf Physics ?

    Hello all, I'm new here to the forum. My name is Chris and my one "burning" question is that do you think that being hard of hearing will be a major obstacle for me to pursue in this field for a career? I know that the military still refuse to hire any of us but I'm wondering in the other...
  39. V

    Hearing in Space: Can You Hear a Vacuum?

    Hello again :smile: To my understanding, sound is vibrating particles in the air. Does that mean that in Space you can't hear anything because its mainly a vacuum?
  40. C

    Medical Improve Hearing by Enlarging Ear Opening

    I have a small inlet to my ear and when I swim it gets clogged very easily and takes about three days to clear out even when I use small pieces of cotton, alcohol, hair dryer, heating pad, or other devise. Is there a medical procedure that could increase the entry to the ear so I could...
  41. glondor

    Stereo Earpieces for Hearing Impaired: Solutions for Half-Sound Audio

    Hi all. Anyone ever heard of a stereo earpiece? My son is deaf in one ear and when he uses headphones he looses half the sound. Ear buds are the same. only half the sound comes thru. I wonder if there is a full sound earpiece out there some where. IE both channels of sound in one earbud.
  42. G

    Distance of hearing a radio station

    Homework Statement A radio station is allowed to broadcast at an average power not to exceed 24 kW. If an electric field amplitude of 2.6×10−2 V/m is considered to be acceptable for receiving the radio transmission, estimate how many kilometers away you might be able to hear this station...
  43. M

    Why is there a delay in hearing sound after seeing an event?

    I was at tattershall lakes the other day and a skier went over a jump, about 3 seconds later after he landed you'd hear the slap of his skis hitting the water. I want to know why? I know that light travels faster than sound, but we wasn't very far away, not far enough for it to make that...
  44. edward

    News Congressional Hearing on the Effect of Speculation On the Price of Oil

    I caught this on C-Span last night. It is very interesting, also very long. Some big time players testify here. There is a lot of talk about the "Enron Loophole" If nothing else watch Dr. Mark Cooper at about the 50 trough 60 minute segment. Yea I know he is involved in consumer affairs, but...
  45. E

    Hearing Back from Physics REUs: My Experience

    Has anyone heard from any physics REUs? I applied to the following schools: UC Davis Michigan State U of Oklahoma U of Washington U of Minnesota U of Indiana I haven't heard from any of them and I am starting to get scared. I definitely should have applied to more.
  46. M

    Sound Intensity and Human threshold for hearing

    Is it possible to have a negative sound intensity level? A sound that is below the threshold of human hearing has... (A) a negative intensity level (in dB). (B) a negative intensity (in W/m^2 ). (C) an intensity level of zero. (D)an intensity level less than 1 dB , but greater than 0...
  47. Loren Booda

    Can Mental Focus Alter Hearing Direction? Investigating Mechanisms

    Can a person switch hearing sounds from different directions by mental focus only, or are mechanical changes always involved?
  48. Ivan Seeking

    Newborn Hearing Test May Predict SIDS

    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/30/eveningnews/main3115525.shtml http://children.webmd.com/news/20070727/newborn-hearing-test-may-predict-sids
  49. moe darklight

    Can Science Reverse Hearing Loss with Stem Cells or Other Methods?

    is science anywhere near being able to reverse hearing loss, like with stem cells or otherwise? it just terrifies me to some day lose my hearing an no longer be able to enjoy music as I do now.
  50. russ_watters

    Can Engineers Predict When a Structure Will Fall?

    I update this story from time to time as it is a good ethics case study for engineers. The owners of the club at Pier 34 plead guilty/no contenst to involuntary manslaughter and their sentencing hearing began today. I see on virtually a daily basis, in my job and in life, people who don't...
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