Most people hear frequencies somewhere between very low rumbles and very high screeches.

The longer version

The ear's machinery sets the limits. Very slow vibrations do not move the eardrum and bone chain efficiently, and very fast ones cannot be followed by hair cells or are absorbed before they reach the sensing membrane, so sensitivity falls away at both ends.

Young listeners typically detect from a low rumble of tens of cycles per second up to a very high hiss in the high thousands, with best sensitivity around speech. Other animals sit elsewhere on that map: some hear far below the human floor, others far above the human ceiling. The edges slope gently rather than ending sharply.

Where this entry sits

Sound and Music gathers facts about how vibrations move through air and water, how ears turn them into meaning, and how instruments and notation shape what listeners hear. Expect echoes, pitch, volume, acoustics, and the odd silence in between. The full list sits on the Sound and Music page, where every entry is listed in order.