Acoustics and audition

The term ‘acoustic’ is derived from the Greek word akoustikos, that means "of or for hearing, ready to hear" and which from akoustos, "heard, audible", that in turn derives from the verb akouo, that is "I hear".

Acoustics is inter disciplinary science which deals with the study of all mechanical waves in liquids, gases, and solids including sound, vibration, and ultrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician whereas someone working in the field of acoustics technology might be termed as an acoustical engineer. The function of acoustics can be seen in nearly all aspects of modern society with the most obvious being the audio and noise control industries.
The studies of acoustics revolve around the generation, propagation and reception of mechanical waves and vibrations.

The steps shown above can be found in any acoustical event or process. There are many types of cause, both natural and volitional. There are many types of transduction process which convert energy from some other form into sonic energy, generating a sound wave. There is one fundamental equation which describes sound wave propagation, but the phenomena which emerge from it are varied and frequently complex. The wave carries energy throughout the propagating medium. Ultimately this energy is transduced again into other forms, in ways or again may be natural and/or volitionally contrived.

Hearing, auditory perception, or audition is the ability to perceive sound by noticing vibrations via an organ like the ear. It is one of the conventional five senses. The incapability to hear is known as deafness.In humans and other vertebrates, hearing is executed mainly by the auditory system: vibrations are detected by the ear and transduced into nerve impulses which are perceived by the brain (mainly in the temporal lobe). Similar to touch, audition needs sensitivity to the movement of molecules in the world outside the organism. Both hearing and touch are kinds of mechanosensation.

The eardrum of an ear simplifies incoming air pressure waves to a single channel of amplitude. In inner ear, the distribution of vibrations along the length of the basilar membrane is detected by hair cells. The space–time sample of vibrations in the basilar membrane is converted to a spatial–temporal pattern of firings on the auditory nerve that transmits information about the sound to the brainstem.