Why is the sound of coins dropping on the floor so recognizable, even in a noisy setting?

Question

Why is the sound of coins dropping on the floor so recognizable, even in a noisy setting?

In: Physics

Answer 1

The hairs in our inner ear detect different frequencies of sounds. The higher frequencies are easier for those hairs to detect. When someone starts to have hearing loss (those hairs get crumpled from too much noise and don’t bounce back) it is usually the lower frequency noises that are lost first.