Sound Waves All Around Us!

What are Sound Waves?

Sound Waves are what sound travels in! They are little vibrations of air that travel through a medium or a material that it is travelling through. Sound Waves are why you can hear a jackhammer or my podcast!! Sound Waves work like this: First, an object or person has to make a sound. A sound is made by an object vibrating back and forth. When the object vibrates, the air around it starts to move. The molecules of air bump into each other. This causes a wave of air molecules. This wave continues until it reaches your ear!! This is how sound waves work! Sounds travel better through materials or mediums that are very dense. That means that the atoms are packed together tightly.

How Do Humans Hear Sounds?

Humans hear sounds thanks to their ears! Sound waves travel through the ear canal and hit a small piece of skin called the ear drum. It is at the end of your ear canal. When the ear drum vibrates, a few bones in your middle ear vibrate. They are the smallest bones in your body! Then, the bones transfer the vibrations to your inner ear. That is where there is a liquids, that is made out of electrolytes. When the vibrations come through, the liquids laps on fine hairs on the sides of the inner ear. After that, the hair send electrical signals to your brain, which will interpret what you are hearing!