The outer ear, consisting of the pinna and ear canal, is responsible for collecting and channeling sound waves towards the eardrum.

The eardrum, also known as the tympanic membrane, vibrates in response to sound waves and transmits these vibrations to the ossicles in the middle ear.

The stapes, the smallest bone in the human body, transmits sound vibrations from the incus to the inner ear's oval window.

The cochlea, a spiral-shaped structure in the inner ear, contains hair cells that convert sound vibrations into electrical signals, which are then transmitted to the brain via the auditory nerve.

The auditory nerve transmits electrical signals generated by the hair cells in the cochlea to the brain's auditory centers for further processing and interpretation.

The absolute threshold refers to the minimum intensity of sound that can be detected by the human ear under ideal listening conditions.

The differential threshold, also known as the just noticeable difference (JND), refers to the smallest difference in intensity that can be detected by the human ear.

Weber's law is mathematically expressed as $$JND = k * I$$, where $$JND$$ is the just noticeable difference, $$I$$ is the original stimulus intensity, and $$k$$ is a constant.

The masking threshold refers to the phenomenon where a sound becomes inaudible in the presence of another louder sound.

Localization refers to the ability of the human ear to perceive the direction from which a sound is coming.

Phantom source refers to the phenomenon where a sound appears to come from a different direction than its actual source.

Pitch perception refers to the ability of the human ear to perceive the pitch of a sound, which is determined by the frequency of the sound wave.

Loudness perception refers to the ability of the human ear to perceive the loudness of a sound, which is determined by the intensity of the sound wave.

Timbre perception refers to the ability of the human ear to perceive the different qualities of a sound, such as its richness or harshness.

The Doppler effect refers to the phenomenon where a sound appears to change in pitch as it moves relative to the listener.