Final answer:
Sound waves travel in the order A) Outer ear → Middle ear → Inner ear, with vibrations passing from the eardrum through the ossicles and transmitted into the inner ear's cochlea for conversion into nerve impulses.
Step-by-step explanation:
The pathway that sound waves travel through to reach our brain for processing involves several stages. Sound first enters the outer ear, travels through the ear canal, and vibrates the tympanic membrane, commonly known as the eardrum. Next, these vibrations are transmitted through the middle ear, where three tiny bones known as the ossicles (malleus, incus, and stapes) amplify the sound and transfer it to the inner ear. The stapes connects to the oval window of the cochlea in the inner ear, where the sound vibrations are converted into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain. Based on this information, the correct pathway of sound through the ear is A) Outer ear → Middle ear → Inner ear.