
Or you could amplify (boost the size of) the current and then feed it into a loudspeaker, turning the electricity back into much louder sound. Hey presto, you've converted your original sound into electricity! By using this current to drive sound recording equipment, you can effectively store the sound forever more. The electric current flows out from the microphone to an amplifier or sound recording device.As the coil moves back and forth through the magnetic field, an electric current flows through it. The permanent magnet produces a magnetic field that cuts through the coil.The coil, attached to the diaphragm, moves back and forth as well.Inside the microphone, the diaphragm (much smaller than you'd find in a loudspeakerĪnd usually made of very thin plastic) moves back and forth when the sound waves hit it.Remember that sound we can hear is energy carried by vibrations in the air. When you speak, sound waves created by your voice carry energy toward the microphone.How does a microphone turn sound energy into electrical energy? Like this: In a microphone, there are almost identical parts but they work in exactly The movingĭiaphragm pushes air back and forth into the room and creates sound

Or cone so, as the coil moves, the diaphragm moves too. The coil is attached to a big flat disc called a diaphragm Pushes against the field the permanent magnet creates. Pattern of electricity in the coil creates a magnetic field all around it that You'll already know how microphones work-because they're literally loudspeakers workingĪround (or in front of) a permanent magnet. If you've read our article on loudspeakers, Microphones look very different from loudspeakers so most people never realize how similar

Photo: Above: This Samson Meteorite is a typical studio-grade professional microphone that hooks up to your computer for podcasting or other high-quality audio recording. How do microphones work? Let's take a closer look! Sounds of our voices, our music, and the noises in our world to other

Information we can store, microphones make it possible to send the Have someone listen to what you said a hundred years later! Remarkably, such thingsĪre possible today: by converting sound energy into electricity and

Invented in the late 19th century, there was no satisfactory way to Sound- energy we can hear-travels only so far before it soaks away into the world around us.
