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Sounds as much as 10 12 more intense can be briefly tolerated. The lowest audible intensity or threshold is about 10 −12 W/m 2 or 0 dB. The ear is remarkably sensitive to low-intensity sounds. This uncommon ability is called perfect pitch. Some people can identify musical notes, such as A-sharp, C, or E-flat, just by listening to them. Musical notes are particular sounds that can be produced by most instruments and in Western music have particular names. Pitch perception is directly related to frequency and is not greatly affected by other physical quantities such as intensity. For example, 500.0 and 501.5 Hz are noticeably different. Typically, we can discriminate between two sounds if their frequencies differ by 0.3% or more. Most of us have excellent relative pitch, which means that we can tell whether one sound has a different frequency from another. The perception of frequency is called pitch. Elephants are known to respond to frequencies below 20 Hz. You may have noticed that dogs respond to the sound of a dog whistle which produces sound out of the range of human hearing. Dogs can hear sounds as high as 30,000 Hz, whereas bats and dolphins can hear up to 100,000-Hz sounds. Other animals have hearing ranges different from that of humans. When we do hear low-frequency vibrations, such as the sounds of a diving board, we hear the individual vibrations only because there are higher-frequency sounds in each. Neither is perceived by the ear, although infrasound can sometimes be felt as vibrations. Sounds below 20 Hz are called infrasound, whereas those above 20,000 Hz are ultrasound. (Perception is commonly defined to be awareness through the senses, a typically circular definition of higher-level processes in living organisms.) Normal human hearing encompasses frequencies from 20 to 20,000 Hz, an impressive range. How is our hearing related to the physical qualities of sound, and how does the hearing mechanism work?
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And from its input we can detect musical quality and nuances of voiced emotion. It can give us a wealth of simple information-such as pitch, loudness, and direction. The human ear has a tremendous range and sensitivity. (credit: West Point Public Affairs, Flickr) Hearing allows this vocalist, his band, and his fans to enjoy music.