Editing Ear (section)

===Middle ear===
{{main|Middle ear}}
[[File:Blausen 0330 EarAnatomy MiddleEar.png|thumb|right|350px|The middle ear]]
The middle ear lies between the outer ear and the inner ear. It consists of an air-filled cavity called the [[tympanic cavity]] and includes the three [[ossicles]] and their attaching ligaments; the [[Eustachian tube|auditory tube]]; and the [[round window|round]] and [[oval window]]s. The ossicles are three small bones that function together to receive, amplify, and transmit the sound from the eardrum to the inner ear. The ossicles are the [[malleus]] (hammer), [[incus]] (anvil), and the [[stapes]] (stirrup). The stapes is the smallest named bone in the [[human body|body]]. The middle ear also connects to the upper [[throat]] at the [[nasopharynx]] via the [[pharyngeal opening of auditory tube|pharyngeal opening]] of the Eustachian tube.<ref name=GRAYS2005 /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Richard L. Drake, Wayne Vogl, Adam W.M.|title=Gray's anatomy for students|date=2005|publisher=Elsevier|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-8089-2306-0|page=858}}</ref>

The three ossicles transmit sound from the outer ear to the inner ear. The malleus receives vibrations from sound pressure on the eardrum, where it is connected at its longest part (the manubrium or handle) by a ligament. It transmits vibrations to the incus, which in turn transmits the vibrations to the small stapes bone. The wide base of the stapes rests on the oval window. As the stapes vibrates, vibrations are transmitted through the oval window, causing movement of fluid within the [[cochlea]].<ref name="GRAYS2005" />

The round window allows for the fluid within the inner ear to move. As the stapes pushes the [[secondary tympanic membrane]], fluid in the inner ear moves and pushes the membrane of the round window out by a corresponding amount into the middle ear. The ossicles help amplify sound waves by nearly 15–20 times.<ref name="GRAYS40TH_36" />