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Article: Hearing
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- Biology
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Hearing
Hearing is the process by which humans, using ears, detect and perceive sounds. Sounds are pressure waves transmitted through some medium, usually air or water. Sound waves are characterized by frequency (measured in cycles per second, cps, or hertz, Hz) and amplitude, the size of the waves. Low-frequency waves produce low-pitched sounds (such as the rumbling sounds of distant thunder) and high-frequency waves produce high-pitched sounds (such as a mouse squeak). Sounds audible to most humans range from as low as 20 Hz to as high as 20,000 Hz in a young child (the upper range especially decreases with age). Loudness is measured in decibels (dB), a measure of the energy content ...