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VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL Acoustics - the Dept. of ...

VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL Acoustics - the Dept. of ...

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2.2. PHYSIOLOGY OF THE EAR 27Figure 2.3: The organ <strong>of</strong> Corti. Source : anatomie.med.vu.nl andwww.audiologieboek.nlcanal. This means that <strong>the</strong> resonance frequency <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> acoustic system canbe found as follows :f = c4L = 340m/s ≈ 3000Hz (2.1)4∗0.03mBecause <strong>the</strong> inner ear contains a liquid, <strong>the</strong>re is an impedance mismatchbetween <strong>the</strong> outer and inner ear. To overcome this mismatch <strong>the</strong> hearingsystem has two mechanisms that are used to amplify <strong>the</strong> force that can beexerted on <strong>the</strong> liquid. The first amplification in <strong>the</strong> middle ear relies on <strong>the</strong>mechanical amplification <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vibrations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ossicles. The system <strong>of</strong> ossicles(hammer - anvil - stirrup) weakens low and high tones and amplifies

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