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ICSE Question Bank
2017Q4(b)(v)Sense Organs
Short answerHard1 mark
4(b)

Mention the exact location of the following:

Eustachian tube

Topic: Location of the Eustachian tube

Previous-year question practice database

Answer

Exam answer

It connects the MIDDLE EAR CAVITY to the PHARYNX (throat).

Explanation

ITS NORMAL FUNCTION: it EQUALISES AIR PRESSURE on the two sides of the eardrum. That is why your ears "pop" in an aeroplane or on a mountain road, and why swallowing or yawning relieves the blocked feeling — both open the tube.

Without it, a difference in pressure would push the eardrum inward or outward and could rupture it.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN: the same passage that protects the eardrum gives INFECTION a route in. Bacteria from a throat infection can travel up it and infect the middle ear — which is the case the 2023 paper describes. Middle-ear infection is commoner in children because their Eustachian tube is shorter and more horizontal.

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