The ears are organs that provide two main functions — hearing and balance — that depend on specialized receptors called hair cells.
Hearing:
1) The eardrum vibrates when sound waves enter the ear canal. Ossicles, three tiny bones (including the stapes, the smallest bone in the body), pass vibrations to the oval window, which is a membrane at the entrance to the inner ear.
Balance
1) Balance is achieved through a combination of the sensory organ in the inner ear, visual input, and information received from receptors in the body, especially around joints.
2) The information processed in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex of the brain allows the body to cope with changes in speed and the direction of the head.