Talk:Outer ear

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It's phrased in a misleading way as it is. In fact, the only mechanism that is selectively amplifying for sounds around 3kHz is the ear canal, and that only amplifies incoming sound by a factor of two. The total amplification can be up to a factor 100, but that is due to the middle ears functions (the tympani having a 15 times larger area than the oval window, and the lever effect from the ossicles which is like 3x). I'll try to change it to something better later if noone does it before me. --GustenNyberg (talk) 17:48, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Just saw in the middle ear-article a reference to an article that states that the ossicles probably are a bit selective as well: "Between 0.1 and 1 kHz it is approximately 2, it then rises to around 5 at 2 kHz and then falls off steadily above this frequency.". Doesn't change my point though. --GustenNyberg (talk) 17:48, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Sorry for spamming this discussion page. I did a more solid research though and found out I was wrong. The external auditory meatus can actually "amplify" sound up to 20 dB (100x)! Here's the reference that convinced me: "Changes in external ear resonance after 3 types of surgery in the patients with chronic otitis media", Yang-Sun Cho MDa, In-Seok Seo MDa, Hyo-Chang Woo MSa, Myung-Koo Kang MDa, Won-Ho Chung MDa and Sung Hwa Hong MDa. Here's the link to a physics-page that had me confused: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/earsens.html. --GustenNyberg (talk) 18:48, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Not sure I agree with this wording: "This tube *amplifies* frequencies in the range 3 kHz to 12 kHz". This is a resonance phenomenon. There is no active contribution of energy to the sound pressure as suggested by the word "amplifies".--mcrema.

I've heard that the earlobe never stops growing. Can anyone confirm or deny this? --Smajie

According to the most extreem show by animal planet's The Most Extreme, the earlobe does not stop growing. --Justinphd 15:45, 6 November 2006

Does anyone know what the name is of the part of the outer ear that is made up of folds of cartilage and skin? I know it's two words.-Kristina

[edit] Improper infobox

I think this is not the correct infobox. What we are looking for is {{Infobox Anatomy}} Circeus 19:42, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for catching that. It is now fixed. --Arcadian 21:42, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

The outer part of that ear is called pinna or auricle. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.68.56.232 (talk) 14:04, 14 October 2007 (UTC)