Just got really curious about it reading [this answer from Spehro Pefhany](https://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/101190/29792). There Spehro comments that one should use a logarithmic pot for audio applications. So I googled for it.

The best article I could find was one titled *"Difference between Audio and Linear Potentiometers"*[1] which now seems to have been removed from the original website.

There they said this:

> 
> Linear vs. Audio
> ----------------
> 
> 
> Potentiometers, or "pots" to electronics enthusiasts, are differentiated by how quickly their resistance changes. In linear pots, the amount of resistance changes in a direct pattern. If you turn or slide it halfway, its resistance will be halfway between its minimum and maximum settings. That's ideal for controlling lights or a fan, but not for audio controls. Volume controls have to cater to the human ear, which isn't linear. Instead, logarithmic pots increase their resistance on a curve. At the halfway point volume will still be moderate, but it will increase sharply as you keep turning up the volume. This corresponds to how the human ear hears.
> 
> 
> 

Well, I'm not satisfied. 

* **What does it mean that the human ear isn't linear?**
* **How does the log changes in the pot resistance relates to sound waves and how the human ear works?**

---

[1] *Original (now broken) link was <http://techchannel.radioshack.com/difference-audio-linear-potentiometers-2409.html>.*